Sukisho Continuation
by Hypercritical-Q
Summary: Takes place after episode 12 but before 13 chapter 5 is up! A carnival is thrown as a fundraiser for the school, and everyone has to help out!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Sukisyo, Sukisho, Whatever.

**Couples:** The obvious, the original.

_Sora X Sunao_

_Nanami X Minato_

_Ichikawa X Nagase_

_Matsuri X Matsuri -.-_

No Chibis in the first chapter- gomen.

**Warnings**: I shouldn't even have to say it's gonna be a shounen-ai/yaoi… if you're into the series, you damn well better be into those genres.

**AN:** The first chapter's a little weird, but give it a try. It'll all fall together in the next chapter, for now, it takes off a little after Minato's wounds have healed, and he's back to teaching.

**One last note:** I'll alternate with these names:

Sora Hashiba Sora, Hashiba

Sunao Fujimori Nao, Sunao, Fujimori

**Sorry….**

---

Hashiba rolled over in his bed, tossing a hand lazily over his beloved. No, not Nao.

"Toshizoooo..." He mumbled, happily, pulling the pink elephant closer. "...Toshizo...wait... come back! Don't go! I'll give you some!"

"..." Nao's eyes slowly opened and he turned over, staring at Hashiba from across the room. He waited a few minutes for his thoughts to start streaming together coherently, but once they did, he realized he'd heard his lover and roommate correctly.

"What in the hell are you dreaming about, Hashiba?" He muttered, tossing his blankets aside and wiping his brow. It sure was hot...

"That's strange..." He pulled his sticky hand away from his temple, staring at the glistening droplets. "...Why am I so hot?"

"...Oh, don't fish for compliments, it's too early..." Hashiba rolled over in bed, kicking his blankets off and even pushing Toshizo away. "...Mmm..."

"...No, I didn't mean it like that..." Nao whispered, pulling off his shirt. "...I mean it's really hot in here..."

"Not now... it's too early..." Hashiba wiped his brow.

"..." Nao rolled his eyes, sighing, annoyed. "Hashiba... I think our air conditioning is broken or something..." He headed over to Hashiba. "Wake up..." He nudged him. "Wake up..."

Nao's eyes widened as Hashiba's hand suddenly gripped his wrist, and the blue-haired teen pulled Nao down on top of him.

"..." Sora's eyes opened and he smiled. "You took your shirt off and approached me in bed... don't you think you should be referring to me as Kuu-chan?" His eyes flashed, playfully and he smiled.

Pink stained Nao's cheeks and he shut his eyes tight, embarrassed as he turned his head.

"Y-you... I thought you were Yoru! You shocked me!"

"Yoru?" Sora blinked, sitting up. "...Nope. You look disappointed!"

"No I don't." Nao turned back to him, leaning in to kiss him, and Sora blinked before shutting his eyes.

"Good morning!" Matsuri threw the door open, suddenly, eyes shut, a huge grin plastered on his face.

VOOOOSH!

Matsuri opened his eyes, blinking. "..."

Nao was sitting in his bed, looking very guilty, his arms wrapped around his knees, Sora was smirking.

"...What the..." Matsuri blinked.

"I have my shirt off because-!"

"It's dying." Matsuri blinked, nodding. "I know... it's hot. The air conditioning is out. Here and at the school."

"Yay! School's canceled!" Sora cheered, excitedly.

"Who said anything about that?" Matsuri huffed. "School's still on. Get your rears in gear, or you'll be late."

"Whaa? We have to work in this heat!" Sora whined. "But our brains will fry! How will we use them if-"

"Just get ready, Hashiba." Nao huffed, grabbing his towel. "Let's all go take a cold shower first."

"Mm." Matsuri raised a hand to stop Nao from leaving. "Don't think you were the first one with that idea, Nao-kun. Every other guy in this section of the dorms is in there, practically."

"So we have to skip our shower! That's gross enough as it is..." Sora pouted. "But on a hot day like today... maybe we can hop over to Niichan's place and use his."

"They live out in the city and they're probably at school already." Matsuri snapped. "But you know what? Ichikawa-kun has his own shower."

"WHAT THE HELL!" Sora fumed. "He has that enormous room all to himself, and his own shower! Is he rich or something!"

"I heard his parents are some kind of super rich snobs." Matsuri shrugged.

"Really? Come to think of it, I heard his father is a doctor and his mother is a lawyer- that would certainly make sense, right?" Sora blinked.

"...Ichikawa-kun? He doesn't seem like the rich type to me..." Nao blinked.

"Think about it, Fujimori." Sora raised a finger, pointedly. "He's smart, athletic, and he has high-self esteem... I'd say he has all the makings of a rich person... who else would want to learn for fun? Rich people have nothing but time, right!"

"And their own showers... well, let's go then!" Nao nodded.

---

"Me? I don't have time for anything..." Ichikawa blinked, opening his door. "But sure, you guys can come in... I already showered. School starts in half an hour, though, you might want to hurry."

"So you really are rich? Is that true?" Sora asked. "How come you never said anything before?"

"...Why would I tell you I'm rich?" Ichikawa blinked.

"You're right... that was rude of me, I'm sorry!" Sora rubbed the back of his head, realizing what he'd said may have been a little inappropriate... after Nao pinched the skin on the back of his elbow until it turned blue... -,-

"Thank you very much." The three bowed, politely.

"No problem! Just try to keep it down, I'm studying for a test." Ichikawa perked.

"...You're kind of a loser, huh?" Sora blinked before gawking as Nao pulled him toward the shower by the skin on his other elbow, tossing him in.

"Make it quick!" He snapped, closing the door behind Sora.

"..." Ichikawa sat down, smiling. "Do you guys want anything to drink?"

"YOU HAVE YOUR OWN FRIDGE!" Matsuri gawked.

"Um." Ichikawa smiled. "It's really useful. I can store lots of food inside, and I don't have to go out and buy things all the time."

"You're really that busy?" Nao blinked.

"Well, I'm in the science club, the kendo club, the judo club, and I have advanced classes... so... yeah."

"...So what I don't get is how you seem so physically matched with Hashiba, but you let Nagase beat the crap out of you, and Hashiba seemed to have taken him out pretty easily... what the heck?" Nao blinked.

"...Sora-sempai did WHAT!" Ichikawa turned on the sink and Hashiba shrieked from inside the shower. Matsuri and Nao gawked.

---

"No, I don't know when the air conditioning will be fixed." Minato snapped, fanning himself with their homework assignment for the night. "Any questions related to MATH?"

"...If the air conditioning broke around twelve PM, and it should only take a few hours to fix, at point X it will be fixed. What does X equal?" Sora raised his hand.

"..." Minato sighed, annoyed. "I won't give you detention, but only because you actually had to engage your brain to ask that smart-alecky question. Now, your homework for tonight-"

"HOMEWORK!" The class whined.

"Minato-sensei, have a heart!" Matsuri whined. "It's sooo hot in the dorms!"

"Good, I heard the library has conditioning. Besides, the homework should get your minds off of the heat."

"Waaah..." Sora sank down in his seat, glancing at Nao, who was tapping his pencil against his desk, seemingly zoning out.

'...After high school...' Nao thought, staring up at the ceiling. 'Where will I go? Will I have to return to Aizawa? He's my legal guardian, technically... and is he still alive? What will I do...?'

Matsuri glanced at Sora, then at Nao, wondering why Sora was watching him. Nao seemed to have a sad expression on his face.

Minato suddenly slammed a packet down onto Nao's desk. "Is my lecture boring you, Fujimori?"

"...No..." Nao replied, glancing at Minato. "I think all of your lectures are fascinating, Minato-sensei. In fact, I can't wait to go out into the big world out there and apply algebra to my every-day way of living! By the way, I'm so excited, would you mind telling me just what having all of this wonderful valuable information and having memorized all of these equations will help me to achieve in the future!"

"...Um... you can be... a high school math teacher..." Minato trailed off as everyone stifled their laughter. Minato had actually thought Nao was serious.

"...What's that?" Nao tilted his head to the side, cutely. "...It WON'T help me in my future? But... then why do we have to know all of this?"

"...For your test on friday." Minato snapped, annoyed, folding his arms. Nao pouted.

"Nice try there, Fujimori." Sora chuckled.

---

'BuchouBuchouBuchouBuchouBuchouBuchou...' Ichikawa scampered down the halls, inadvertently shoving anyone who got in his way as his head jerked from left to right as he looked around for Nagase.

"Hi, Ichikawa!" Hano popped up in front of him, hand raised in a friendly way.

WAM!

Hano gawked as his glasses broke against a locker.

"..." He slowly pried himself away from the lockers and pulled his glasses down his nose, adjusting them a little as he watched Ichikawa flutter down the hall. A lens popped out of its frame. "He sure seems intent on finding something..."

Ichikawa rounded the corner and pouted as the bell rang for class. Nagase had promised to meet him outside of his locker, but after waiting for four minutes, Ichikawa decided the senior must have been running a little late.

"I was sure I'd find him..." He turned and blinked, running into a broad chest. He stumbled back, reaching out and leaning against the lockers for support before he looked up, nervously. "Sorry, I..."

"You're late to class. You might want to hurry." Minato snapped before blinking. "Oh... Ichikawa-kun... how are you?"

"...Okay..." Ichikawa took another step back. "...Sorry... I'm looking for..." He averted his gaze. Nagase had asked him not to mention his return to the school. If Minato was wandering the halls, no wonder Nagase had neglected to show up at Ichikawa's locker.

"I've been meaning to find you." Minato settled a hand on Ichikawa's shoulder. The blue haired teen's first mental reaction was to flip the seemingly sadistic and perverted (As Matsuri-sempai had explained) teacher into a wall, but he held back, opting to smile instead. "I wanted to ask you about your injuries," He continued, "But you seem to be doing just fine."

"You, too..." Ichikawa recalled that the dark haired man had been stabbed in the gut. "...How do you feel?"

"I'm doing just fine... So then I guess you heard about that incident..." Minato glanced around, before leaning down to whisper to Ichikawa, who pulled back, shrugging his shoulders, nervously, staring at the teacher with giant nervous eyes.

"...Don't mention it to any of your friends, alright?"

Ichikawa nodded.

"...Have you mentioned it to anyone?"

"Only Sora-sempai and Fujimori-sempai... and I haven't seen Honjou-sempai at all since that day you recovered... Well, and this morning..."

"In any case, you should have Nanami-sensei look over your wounds again by the end of the day." Minato offered a friendly smile before heading down the hall. "I won't give you a detention since I'm the one who made you late, but in the future, please be sure to hurry to class."

"...Um." Ichikawa nodded, taking what he'd said into consideration. He hadn't really thought about it all that much, but... Nanami and Minato seemed to be very close... of course Ichikawa would go to a quack before visiting Nanami... all that about brain control and stuff... no thanks...

He headed to his computer class, sighing. 'I want to know more about Nanami-sensei and Minato-sensei... and Sora-sempai and Fujimori-sempai... I sense that something terrible must have happened...' He sat down in his seat in the computer lab. He had an online class and was given permission to use the lab's computer to participate in the class.

"Ichikawa-kun, ohayo." The lab instructor smiled to him. "Once you log on, I'll let you be, I have a few errands to run."

"Um. Thank you, Zooru-sensei." Ichikawa nodded, logging into the online database. He turned, giving the teacher a thumb's up.

"Very good." The man left, and Ichikawa turned to his class. He had a test today, as mentioned before.

---

"Nanami." Minato opened the door to the infirmary. He gawked at all of the teenagers lying about the place. "...What in the..."

"They all have heat stroke..." Nanami informed him, smiling lightly. "...I took their temperatures... I think I'm going to send them home after they all start feeling better. Have you noticed any students with symptoms of overheat exhaustion?"

"...All of them?"

"Aheh." Nanami chuckled/giggled, and Minato smiled, lightly.

"Aaaah, Nanami-senseeeiiii..." The boys cooed. "Your laughter is our medicine... we feel better already..."

"Oh, good." Nanami turned, smiling. "As soon as you finish your water bottles, you're welcome to leave, so long as you go in groups of two and call me when you get home."

"We're feeling better, thanks to you, Nanami-sensei!"

"Thanks so much, Nanami-sensei!"

"They feel better because you're sending them home." Minato folded his arms, annoyed as the boys left, two by two. "...If Ichikawa Gaku doesn't come in of his own accord by the final class, I want you to call him in for another physical exam."

"Another?" Nanami blinked, and Minato unfolded his arms.

"Didn't you look him over after he was beaten up?"

"Beaten up?"

"...Oh that's right... I got stabbed... I suppose you were a little preoccupied..."

"I'll call him in, don't worry." Nanami smiled. "How are our boys doing?"

"Matsuri and Nao both have their hair up. Aside from that, they seem as fine as everyone else. Sora also seems to be doing fine... Now that you mention it..." He raised a hand to his chin, thoughtfully, reflecting on the way Ichikawa stumbled about and used the lockers to stay standing. "...Maybe it wasn't nervousness from my presence..."

"Hmm?" Nanami blinked. "What's this? You confused a student's symptoms for your superiority complex?"

"Maybe... Call Ichikawa in here next chance you get... also... find out anything you can about Nagase... I have a feeling he'd know... I heard a rumor that he returned to the school."

"So? From what the boys said-"

"And so has Aizawa."

"..." Nanami nodded, turning on the intercom. "...Computer lab?"

No response.

"...If Ichikawa Gaku is in the room, please send him to the nurse's office immediately... Zooru-sensei? Zooru-sensei? Have you stepped out? Ichikawa-kun, if you're in the room, please report to the nurse's office immediately... Please respond if you can hear me..."

---

"Where the hell are you going!" Sora wailed as Nao moved to grab up his backpack.

"Home." Nao turned to him. "...Maybe I'll come back for last class."

"You can't skip gym class!"

"I'm not running two miles or even ONE inside with this heat." Nao snapped., grabbing up his pack and heading for the door. "I don't care if I get in trouble. I'm going home... or maybe to the library."

"...You're pathetic." Sora huffed. "It's only an hour."

"I spent countless hours enduring heat, and cold, and torture at Aizawa's lab, and I didn't have a choice then. Now I do. And I choose not to endure anymore torment." Nao snapped, heading home. Sora blinked. He hadn't thought of it that way...

Sighing, he headed to gym. Matsuri watched from around the corner, before sighing, stepping out in front of Sora.

Sora blinked.

"...I'll cover for you." Matsuri smiled. "Go on..."

Sora stared before smiling, turning and running after Fujimori, leaving Matsuri alone to think.

"..." He smiled sadly at the floor. "That laboratory... I may not know everything... and I don't want to... I just want them both to move on... together..." He turned, heading to gym.

---

"...Ninety nine... waaaah..." Ichikawa leaned back in his seat, annoyed. "Which one did I miss!" He sat back up, abruptly, scrolling down to see which answer he'd missed. The room started spinning a little and he shut his eyes.

'Oh... the heat... that's right... no... I can't blame my poor test score on this heat... I just didn't study enough...' He thought, pouting. He smiled, lightly, leaning his cheek against his palm, elbow resting on the desk. 'Nagase-buchou is the kind of person who acts reserved all the time... I bet he doesn't let the heat affect him at all... but then again, he's human, right!'

He blushed, smiling, fantasizing:

_"Buchou, I'm here! I brought the presentation you asked me to work on!" Ichikawa raised the packet._

_"Oh, good. You're so reliable." Nagase smiled, coolly._

_'KYAAAAAAAAA!' Ichikawa mentally squealed, excitedly, like a school girl. "Ano..." He blushed, like a bride would, approaching her husband. "...I double-checked it for errors... I hope you like it... eh?" His eyes widened. "...Bu...Buchou!"_

_Nagase clutched the table, the back of his hand pressed to his forehead. "...My... it certainly has gotten hot, hasn't it?"_

_"Kai-sempai!" Ichikawa dropped the papers and caught Nagase as he started to faint. "...You're burning up! Don't worry... I'll take care of you..."_

_"Gaku..." Nagase smiled up at him as an irritating beeping sound went off somewhere in the room. "...Only your beautiful eyes can bring out my gentle smile..."_

**END FANTASY...**

"...Kai...-Sempai..." Ichikawa mumbled into the keyboard. The rapid beeping not waking him from his over-heated stupor.

"Ichikawa-kun... are you in there?" Nanami's voice sounded over the intercom again.

Nagase, who was walking past with an arm full of folders, stopped outside of the lab upon hearing the announcement. Why would Ichikawa be in a computer lab alone, and why would Nanami be calling for him over the intercom?

He pushed the door open, glancing inside. Sure enough, Ichikawa seemed to be sleeping at the desk. A beeping was sounding annoyingly at the computer...

He set his things down before heading over, turning Ichikawa in his seat and raising him up by the shoulders, whispering so as not to be heard by Nanami.

"Gaku... wake up..."

"Mn..." Ichikawa's eyes slowly opened. "...Naa, Buchou... even in my dreams... you seem so..." His head faltered forward and Nagase slapped his cheek gently a few times. "Gaku. You're not asleep, wake up." He felt Ichikawa's forehead. He was burning.

Sighing, the senior pulled Ichikawa's chair away from the computer.

Ichikawa jerked awake before standing, the chair falling over and Nagase stumbled back, eyes wide.

"Gaku-"

"Don't look at it!" Ichikawa snapped, before stumbling backward, gripping the desk. He seemed to be hiding the computer from Nagase, who blinked.

"Don't look at what? What're you doing? Looking at porn? Gaku, the computer lab is for academic use only... Now then, Nanami-sensei is calling for you on the intercom- or was. He's probably on his way, now... get it together, alright?"

"...Don't look..." Ichikawa turned to log off, but he sank to his knees instead, dropping his head to the computer desk, tiredly. He yawned uncontrollably before falling limply to the floor like a crumpled up rag doll.

"..." Nagase fought back the urge to roll his eyes as he pressed yes when the computer asked if Ichikawa was sure he wanted to log off. He then knelt down, lifted the smaller boy into his arms and turned, heading toward the nurse's office.

---

"Nao!" Sora threw open the door to their dorm room. "Oh... he went to the library after all! That means I have to walk all the way over there. I'm grabbing a change of clothes." He knelt down, grabbing up a tank top and a pair of shorts before glancing at Nao's dresser. It'd only be polite to grab a change of clothes for him, too.

He reached for the handle to the drawer before reconsidering. It would be rude to go through Nao's things... Then again... it would be rude not to bring Nao a change of clothes, right? He could bring Nao some of his clothes, but that would be weird... wouldn't it?

Shrugging it off, he pulled the drawer open. Blinking, he pulled out a small tattered journal. His hands trembled as he sat down on the bed with it, placing one hand over the black cover. He knew this small book. The doctors at the lab had given him one as well. They'd given them each one. It was a journal, like any ordinary journal... though the doctors had surely meant to use it to keep track of the boys' mental states...

Gulping, he opened it to the first page. He knew that date. He was in the lab, too. It was their fourth week in that God forsaken place...

He turned the pages until he reached one date in particular. The day he and the others had abandoned Fujimori.

To be continued...

---

**AN:** How do you like it? I started writing it 07-19-06 at 12:00 or so AM and finished around 2, so if it sucks, that's because I'm tired.

**Next Chapter:** Will start off with a flashback as to what happened right after the series, how Ichikawa and Nagase get together, how Minato and Fujimori got back to being cool with each other after Nao basically forced Sora to stab him… and how Aizawa and Nagase made it out alive.

**Nit-picks:** Okay, so did anyone else notice what I did? The whole Gaku vs Sora then Gaku vs. Nagase then Nagase vs. Sora deal? What the hell? If Gaku's so touch he could match fighting skill with Sora in the first episode, how the hell does he get his ass kicked so bad in episode… 10 or whatever by Nagase, who ends up getting beaten down by two punches! Anyway, until next time, ja ne.


	2. Dinner Invitation

AN: Okay, this chapter gets a tad bit lemony. Eventually I'll probably end up changing the rating from T to M, but for now, I'll keep it at T since not a whole lot goes on. Thanks for the reviews! I'll try to keep posting this story fairly frequently.

--- a switched scene

-.-.- going into a flashback

Chapter 2

"...Where are... the rest of the pages? They look like they've been torn out..." Sora stared down at the journal, sadly, sitting on his bed. "..." He stood, putting it back into the dresser drawer he'd grabbed it from before slowly closing the drawer. He held onto the handle for a few moments, taking in the past few moments he'd spent alone in the room.

Slowly, his hand dropped to his side, and he shifted his weight, shoulders drooping as he stared up at the ceiling.

"...That was inappropriate of me... to look through Nao's things... if he wants to talk to me about them... I'm sure he will..." He opened the second drawer down, blushing beet when he saw all of Nao's underwear pushed to one side, his socks on the other.

"..." He pulled out something that looked like a Speedo, sweat dropping. "...I've never seen him wear this..."

"AND YOU NEVER WILL, YOU PERVERT!"

Sora gawked as Nao's briefcase hit him in the back of the head. He turned, annoyed, rubbing his fresh bump. "It's not what it looks like."

"It looks like you're going through my things!" Nao fumed. "...PUT THOSE BACK!"

"Sport them for me?" Sora smirked, raising them up and stretching them a little.

Nao's eyes bulged and he shrugged his shoulders up, annoyed, cheeks turning cherry. "...Put it back. And no, you don't want to see me wearing those. They don't fit."

"They do, too, otherwise you wouldn't keep them! Put them on!"

"They're too big for me, I bought it for..." He trailed off, averting his gaze. "Why are you going through my things!"

"Bought them for who?"

Nao's eyes widened when he realized his top drawer was open a crack. "Hey... you didn't go through my top drawer, did you!" He shoved Sora out of the way, opening it. "...What the hell, Hashiba! You can't just go through other people's stuff!"

"I was just going to bring you an extra pair of clothes." Hashiba raised his bag to prove it. "One set for me, and one for you, I thought you went to the library."

"No, I wanted to come home and shower again while no one was here." Nao snapped, annoyed. "Don't touch my stuff. If I wanted a change of clothes, I would have come home and gotten it myself!"

"I was just trying to be nice..." Hashiba huffed, pouting.

Nao swallowed hard. Despite that Hashiba had probably discovered his journal, he couldn't stay mad at him. His actions kind of resembled...

"..." Sora's eyes narrowed. "Why are you petting my head?"

"Because you're kind of like a little lost pu-"

"DON'T PATRONIZE ME!" Hashiba wailed, shoving Nao away, annoyed before huffing.

"I'm sorry..." Nao sat up, cutely, acting as the epitome of seduction; "A master shouldn't come home to their puppy and hit him on the nose."

"I'm not a freaking dog." Sora huffed, sitting beside Nao. "...I skipped school for you, though, so NO. You shouldn't be so mean to me! And I was thinking of you, I was going to bring you some clothes."

"I wouldn't go to the library if I was skipping school." Nao pointed out before smiling to Hashiba. "...Want to shower with me?"

"...Together?" Hashiba blushed lightly. "...But what if someone sees?"

"Who's here?"

"Nanami-chan sent a lot of people home today..."

"They'll be in bed."

"...Alright..." Sora slowly grabbed a towel.

Nao perked up, happily, turning and opening the door for him. "...Hashiba..."

"Hm?"

"...Did you see... ano... never mind." He smiled.

"...I took a look in your journal and..." Hashiba averted his gaze at Nao's shocked expression. "If... you hadn't torn out those pages, I probably would have read them, in all honesty... but... I'm glad you took them out... I want you to tell me, though... about that time."

"..." Nao glared at him. "Look at me, Hashiba."

"..." Hashiba glanced his way.

"...I don't... want to talk about that time, ever... okay?"

"...But Nao, if you don't-"

"And IF I change my mind- and I WON'T, then I'll tell you when I choose to... but I won't, okay!"

"..." Sora nodded, slowly. "...I'm sorry, Nao..."

"..." Nao turned, heading out with his towel. "...Hurry up."

"Uh... um." Sora nodded, sadly, closing the door to their room.

-.-.-.-

"Hey, Ichikawa!" Sora broke Ichikawa out of his trance.

"Yeah?" He smiled.

"..." Sora's smile faded. "...Thanks... um... for... you know... being here for me... these last couple of days... I just wanted to say... um... well, I really consider you... how should I put this... you were there for me when I came to this school, and aside from Matsuri, you were the first person to make me feel welcome! And then... when I was hurt and in the hospital from my fall, you visited me every day... and even now, through all of this dysfunctional mess, you've stayed by my side... what... what I'm trying to say is that I consider you to be one of my best friends... and... Thank you." Hashiba smiled.

Ichikawa blushed lightly, rubbing the back of his head as all eyes fell on him. "...Um... you, too... I mean... of course I'll always be there for you... for any of you... and I may not be in on everything that's happened to you- and if you don't want to, you don't have to tell me either!" He waved his hands about defensively before laughing it off, waving the matter away. "Not-not that I don't want to know, but I mean... you know... ah, you embarrassed me, Sora-sempai! I can't even talk coherently!"

"...Ichikawa-kuuun... you always stutter when you're nervous..." Matsuri chuckled.

"But he made me!"

"...And also... I think the reason Nagase-sempai helped us out," Nao smiled to him. "Was because he was touched by your influence, Ichikawa-kun."

"...Really?" Ichikawa smiled, sadly. "...Do you think Nagase-Buchou made it out alright?"

"...We don't know..." Nao shrugged and Hashiba elbowed him, annoyed.

"If he's as smart as you say he is, Ichikawa, I'm sure he made it out just fine!"

"...Right..." Ichikawa smiled, sadly. "Fujimori-sempai, thank you for being considerate of my feelings... you have a sad look, yourself... but you look sincerely sorry... I may be out of line in saying this, but... I personally forgive you, and I think that if a person is really sorry, he should be forgiven... but not just by his friends... he has to learn to forgive himself, too... that's what I would also say to Nagase-Buchou... that is... if I ever see him again..."

"..." Nao's smile faded and he nodded, eyes tearing a little as he averted his gaze. "...Thank you... and Ichikawa... I'm sure you'll see him again..."

'Rather... that bastard wouldn't possibly die so easily...' Nao was thinking.

"Thank you... eh?" Ichikawa blinked as Matsuri's phone started ringing. He moved to answer it and blinked, taking it and answering.

"Moushi moushi? ... Nanami-chan!"

Sora and Nao stiffened, turning to look.

"...Got it... thank you very much... we'll be right there!" He hung up, turning to them, smiling excitedly.

"Shinichiro-san is going to be just fine!"

"..." Everyone sighed with relief, before standing there in awkward silence. Sora glanced at Nao, Nao stared at his feet, and Ichikawa shifted uncomfortably.

"...Well... at least now... we don't have to do your math homework... right?" Matsuri offered the weak joke.

"..." The others gawked at him- how inappropriate!

Then they busted up laughing.

"...Sei-tachi..." Sei mumbled, rubbing his eye as he woke up. "...Naka suita... ne?"

"Um." Shiina and Kitamura nodded, both yawning.

"...Let's go see Niichan!" Sora smiled.

The group hurried into the hospital and up to Minato's room.

"Nanami-chan, is he awake!" Sora busted into the room, nervously. Nao stayed outside as the chibis ran into the room, excitedly.

"Is the scary man okay?"

"He's going to be just fine... ne, Shinichiro?" Nanami smiled down at Minato, who's eyes were open slightly. He smiled, still clasping his lover's hand tightly.

"Niichan... I'm sorry... about what I did... I didn't mean to... I mean..." Sora sank to his knees, eyes tearing up.

"It's alright, Hashiba..." Nanami smiled to him, patting his head with his free hand. "...We're fully aware that you were being mind-controlled... everyone is fine now... so there's no need to be sad..."

"..." Shinichiro shut his eyes, letting out a soft sigh before inhaling, parting his lips. "Su... nao... come inside..."

"Shinichiro..." Nanami caressed his cheek. "Don't push yourself too hard... let me be your voice..."

Shinichiro smiled, reaching up to touch Nanami's face.

"..." Nao slowly stepped inside the room, eyes heavy with tears, cheeks puffy from crying in the hall.

"...Sunao..." Shinichiro whispered, moving his hand from his beloved's face and patting the bed. "Come over to us..."

"..." Sunao shook his head sadly, turning and getting ready to leave.

"Don't run away, Nao!" Sora caught him by the sleeve, pulling him over to them and hugging him tightly a few feet away. "...It's okay... everything that happened is in the past. You did some terrible things, but in all our eyes... what we did was worse... and ultimately, there's only one person we can blame for all of the misfortune that has befallen upon us, and that person is NOT you... you're one of us... you're a victim of this horrible thing that's happened... and you're also family... we're all family... and family forgives..."

Nao sobbed into Hashiba's shirt, clenching his sleeve as he buried his face in the older teen's chest.

Ichikawa smiled lightly. He had supported his friends, but now it was down to family, and he didn't belong here. He turned, heading silently out of the hospital. Despite what had been said in regards to his being one of Sora-Sempai's best friends, he wasn't as close as Hashiba was to Honjou-sempai and the others.

It was night time, now. He glanced up at the midnight sky. He'd heard something about Ran and Yoru, Hashiba and Sora's split personalities. Staring up at the sky, he was reminded of this. "It's a nice Yoru tonight, huh?" He mumbled to himself. "...Okay, bad pun..." He glanced at the ground, then back up at the hospital. "...At least they got their happy ending..." He turned before glancing to the east, where firefighters were still putting out the fire from the lab.

"Are you really alive and safe, Buchou?" He glanced again at the sky.

"Gaku..." He heard a familiar voice from behind him.

"..." He turned, eyes wide.

"Hey…"

---

"Hey.."

Ichikawa's eyes opened slowly.

"...How do you feel?" Nanami asked, smiling.

"...Nanami-sensei?" Ichikawa blinked, before gasping, sitting up. "...Why am I here? How did I get here!" He looked around.

"Lay down." Nagase snapped at him, irritated from his position against the wall. His arms were folded and he was glancing at Ichikawa with an irritated look. "...You're going to make your fever worse."

"...Nagase-Buchou!" Ichikawa moved to stand, but Nanami pushed him back into a laying position. "Calm down, Ichikawa-kun."

"WAAAAH! I revealed your secret, Nagase-Buchou! I'm so sorry! I'm useless! Useless!"

"No, just extremely noisy..." Nagase picked his ear, annoyed, checking for blood. "...You have kind of an annoying voice."

"Don't say something so insensitive." Nanami admonished, pointing a finger at him. "Apologize, right now."

"..." Minato arched a brow from the opposite wall.

"That's okay, Nanami-sensei! I know my voice is annoying! But I tried changing it, and that didn't work, so I just shout a lot, that way at least everyone can hear me!"

"..." Nagase smiled, lightly. "It's the kind of voice that grows on you. There's no mistaking it, either."

"...That's a nice thing to say... alright, I forgive you." Nanami shrugged.

"...Wait... you wanted me to apologize to you?"

"No, to Ichikawa-kun!"

"...Then... why are you forgiving me?"

"...Shouldn't you be in class?"

"Or burnt to a crisp?" Minato muttered under his breath.

"Oh, did they let you out of the hospital already?" Nagase snapped, glancing at him.

"They had to make room for little boys you've helped beat up."

"Aheh heh heh... now now! Minato-sensei, you have a class to teach, don't you!" Nanami interrupted, nervously.

"I'm about to administer a lesson right now." Minato snapped, still locked in a glaring match with Nagase.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Everyone covered their ears, annoyed, glancing at Ichikawa.

"I forgot! I have to take my history test!"

"You already took it." Nagase reminded him, annoyed. "You missed one question."

"WAAAAAAAAAAH! YOU SAW!"

"STOP SCREAMING!" Minato yelled, annoyed, hands pressed so firmly to his ears he thought he might smash his own head in.

"Shhh..." Nanami raised a tender finger to Ichikawa's lips.

"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Minato fumed, glowered at the teenager, who blushed, glancing from Nanami to Minato, fearfully.

"Gee, I'm feeling worlds better! I think I'll be leaving..." Ichikawa whispered.

"Do you think you can make it home alone?" Nanami blinked.

"Home? It's only two, I still have one more class, and then chemistry club, I have a presentation to give na? Buchou!"

"No. Chemistry club is canceled." Nagase snapped. "I'll make sure he gets home safe and sound."

"Like we trust you." Minato snapped. "You're not going anywhere until you tell us where Aizawa is."

"That doesn't have anything to do with you. I doubt he'll bother you again, so just dismiss him from your thoughts."

"We need him to turn over guardianship of Fujimori-kun to us." Nanami stated, smiling kindly to Nagase. "Won't you please help us?"

"..." Nagase glared at him. "Don't think your siren like voice or seductive manipulation tactics will work on me, Nanami-sensei. Gaku, I'll take you home."

"But Buchou, I have another test..." Ichikawa blinked, before standing. "Thank you all for your concern, but-"

"I said I'll take you home. You can easily make up a test."

"No, I can't. I have activities after school."

"Make it up before school."

"And miss my shower?"

"Shower before you go to bed!"

"In this heat I need a shower before I go to sleep and after I wake up."

"What's WITH THIS HEAT!" Nagase snapped, annoyed.

"Oh, so it does affect you like it would any other human..." Ichikawa blinked.

"Yeah, no shit."

"I won't allow you to go home with him, Ichikawa-kun. I'm sorry, but he's already inflicted injuries onto you and-" Nanami was cut off, instantly grabbing his ears when Ichikawa started whining loudly again.

"Wha! I don't know what you're talking about!" Ichikawa gawked. No pun intended. "These are all wounds from kendo class!"

"But... they appeared after you confronted him the other day."

"That's not true, not to mention, this one is from Sora-sempai!" He gestured to a wound on his arm. "And this one," He gestured to the bandage on his cheek, "Is from Fujimori-sempai."

"...He punched you?"

"I think he was aiming for Sora-sempai, but... he ducked, and I was there... it was an accident- they all were, na? Nagase-Buchou!"

"..." Nagase fell silent before turning, gesturing for Ichikawa to follow him.

"...Mn..." Nanami and Minato glared, watching as the two headed out.

"...Don't worry." Minato settled a hand on Nanami's shoulder. "...Ichikawa-kun is smart. If he senses any danger-"

"With Aizawa... sometimes you don't sense the danger until it's too late..."

"...Do you feel that Nagase Kai is the same as his father?"

"...I don't know... When we were younger... when I was working at the lab... he..."

"I have a class to go to." Minato, sensing Nanami's distress at even thinking of that time, rested a hand on his beloved's shoulder. "...I'll see you after school... I hope they get this heat problem fixed... or we might just end up having to think up something to do to get our minds OFF of the heat..."

"...There's no heat problem at our place." Nanami huffed.

"Heh."

"We should invite the boys over." Nanami stated, thoughtfully.

"...You're one of those people who's too nice."

"...We should invite Nagase, too..." Nanami smiled. "...You know... I think... no... I believe that people can change, if they have a really strong inspiration and motivation... and support."

"...I don't trust that guy. I'd invite Soushi over before inviting Nagase."

"Great! You invite Soushi, I'll invite Nagase!"

"...Wha-"

"I'll go shopping on my way home." Nanami smiled, cutely.

"WHA-!"

"Excuse me, Nanami-sensei... I feel faint..." A student suddenly entered, gawking when he saw Minato. "...Aren't you the guy who gave me a detention for being late? Your class is waiting for you... it's been ten minutes..."

"...Do you still have that detention slip?"

The boy handed it over.

Minato tore it up. "Never speak of his again."

"I dunno... never's a looong time..." The boy waved his other ten detention slips in front of the math teacher.

"...You look fine to me." Minato shoved him out of the infirmary and headed to class, annoyed.

---

"...Ha-Hashiba..." Nao blushed, turning his head to the side and biting the back of his hand as Sora's strong fingers touched places Nao wouldn't let anyone else touch.

"Hashibaaa... that's a little formal for someone touching you here." Sora pinched one of Nao's nipples, smirking.

"Aaah..."

"Try again..."

"Kuu-chaan..." Nao whispered, softly, cheeks going a shade darker than his hair.

"That's better..." Hashiba moved to color Nao's collar bone with love bites.

"Yame... I want to wear tank tops in this heat..." Nao whispered. "Hashiba, be more considerate!"

"...When we're in our room alone it won't matter... furthermore..."

He gave Nao's nipple a twist.

"YAAAEEEEE!"

"Call me Kuu-chan... it's so cute when you say it in that sexy voice." Hashiba snapped, and Nao slapped him across the face, annoyed. "OWW!"

"...Pervert..." Nao huffed, before raising his arms up around his chest, "...The shower's cold..."

"It'll be hot when we get out, though." Sora moved a hand on either side of Nao, trapping him against the wall. "...I don't feel cold... maybe I'm not trying hard enough for you..." He leaned down, kissing Nao's shoulder bone before kissing up his upper trapezius to his jaw, kissing right below Nao's ear.

(An: I never noticed this before, but trapezius isn't a sexy word at all... it's the muscle on either side of your neck, though, but it makes it sound like they were fooling around, then suddenly showed up at a circus... ne? Oops... did I ruin the mood? My bad...)

"...Hashiba..." Nao shut his eyes, gripping Sora's hips to steady himself. "..."

"Why won't you call me Kuu-chan anymore?" Hashiba whispered, moving his lips to Nao's, but he didn't expect for, nor allow Sunao to answer.

"Mm.. Yame..." Nao whimpered, pulling away from their kiss when Hashiba moved his hand below his waist. "...Not in a public place... let's go back to our room..."

"But it's hot in there..." Hashiba whined.

"Please? Kuu-chan?"

"...Tsh..." Hashiba huffed, turning off the water. "I'll meet you in the room. Hurry up and wash your hair, okay?"

"It'll only take ten minutes."

"JUST TO WASH YOUR HAIR! Just cut it already, you're going to die of over-heat exhaustion if you keep it long!"

"...True... and I DID only have it long so as to help me to seduce you... but... I kind of like it."

"...Yeah... whatever... just hurry up."

"I will." Nao smiled, handing Sora his towel.

---

"..." Minato glared into his empty class room. "What the hell? Damn brats. Even if it's only study hall, THIS IS GOING TO COUNT AGAINST THEIR GRADES!"

---

"This is where you live?" Nagase blinked, pushing open the door to Ichikawa's dorm room.

"Eh." Ichikawa smiled, heading in and going straight for the fridge. "Want something to drink?"

"Please."

"What would you like? I have water, tea, soda-"

"Soda? The carbonation in those drinks eats away at your bones."

"...It's for guests... you never know what they might want."

"...You should stop lying. It's an unattractive face on you."

"I'm telling you the truth!" Ichikawa huffed, offended.

"...Then why is there one open inside?" Nagase pointed.

"...That's from when Fujimori-sempai was living with me... I'm saving it in case he wants it when he gets back."

"...Wasn't that al most a week ago?"

"...Yeah... I guess I should throw it out."

"Nanami-sensei gave you a physical while you were asleep."

"...That's a little awkward... you were there?"

"Yeah."

"...Did you see it?"

"He didn't remove your underwear."

"...Oh... good.." Ichikawa smiled, turning and tossing Nagase a bottle of water. Nagase blinked before catching it. It was nice and cool.

"Thank you."

"Sorry about all the trouble... you were probably busy..."

"...No... I was heading home when I heard your name over the intercom. Then I saw you in that computer lab... are you enrolled in an internet course?"

"Um. Japanese history."

"Oh..." Nagase nodded.

"...You've graduated already... haven't you, Buchou?"

"Yeah. I just help out around the school for college credits."

"...I um... I'm sorry that I revealed your whereabouts unintentionally... to those two... why don't you want them to know where you are?"

"...I don't know... I don't mind it, I guess... It's mostly that I dislike both of them... I just would prefer to avoid them... but naturally, if your safety or health is in..." He trailed off, glancing at Ichikawa.

"...What?" Ichikawa was listening and watching Nagase. He'd put his pillow in the fridge and was laying his head on it.

"..." Nagase smiled, lightly. "...How do you feel?"

"Good, now."

"...Are any of those wounds really from your friends... or kendo?"

"Most of them are from judo! Don't worry. All the bruises you put on me are gone no- o-ow..." He covered his mouth, eyes wide. 'Idiot!'

".." Nagase sighed, opening his water and drinking some. "...You were right."

"Hmm? Right about what?" Ichikawa drank from his own water bottle.

"That day... by the forest... when you told me that I had intentionally given you that note to pass onto Fujimori..."

Ichikawa set his water down on his tummy, still watching Nagase through narrowed sleepy eyes.

"...When you... told me that I did it on purpose... so that you could find a way to put an end to my father's plan... you were right... but I underestimated you... I thought you would run off and try to help your friend."

"..." Ichikawa shut his eyes, sadly. He should have done just that. Then none of that mess would have happened...

"But instead, you wanted to help _me_, as well... if you hadn't said that... if you had gone and told them... you would have made it before that blonde idiot sent them on that wild goose chase... and then that would have exposed Fujimori. He would have run away, and we'd leave and formulate another plan... Fujimori would never see Hashiba again... and I... I would be placed on another assignment. I'd still be affiliated with my father right now... even though you were hurt... and so many other people were hurt... you did the right thing... confronting me about it... I think... if things had turned out any other way... "

"Buchou..." Ichikawa sat up, slowly, so as not to hit his head on the inside of the fridge. "...Are you really not affiliated with your father? I mean... it's okay if you tell me it's none of my business..."

"No... I'm not... I don't want to have anything to do with him ever again... Even if he's my father... he doesn't care about anyone... just science... I don't want to be like that... I want to be like you and your friends…I want people in my life… not just experiments…"

"...Buchou..." Ichikawa moved to sit beside him. "..." He slowly moved his hand over Nagase's, nervous that the older man might shove his hand away, but he didn't. Instead, he turned, resting his head against Ichikawa's shoulder.

The blue haired boy's eyes widened. His beloved Buchou was actually...

"Can I ask you something? I know you'll be perfectly honest about anything..." Nagase smiled, lightly, turning so that his words breezed across Ichikawa's ear. "...Should I... try to help my father? Or is he a lost cause?"

"..." Ichikawa instantly dismissed the fact that all of his schoolboy fantasies were coming to life right here in his room. Nagase was asking for his advice... and acting so gentle... he sincerely wanted his help... right?

"...I don't believe there's such a thing... as a lost cause in a person... Buchou... you said to be honest... in my opinion... and I know it's creepy that I know you so well from watching you constantly, but... the way you acted toward Nanami-sensei today... and given the fact that you two share the same first name... was your father perhaps... in some way... attached to Nanami-sensei? And if so... that means... he has a soft spot somewhere inside his heart, right?"

"..." Nagase glanced down at Ichikawa, shocked.

"...If... I were to judge your father... which is inappropriate, since I don't even know him... but based off of the facts I am aware of... I would have to say that his actions toward Sora-sempai and the others... were much like Fujimori-Sempai's... meaning that... they seem to me to be lashing out at those they loved... who hurt them... which means they definitely have feelings..." Ichikawa smiled.

"Lashing out at those who they loved who hurt them?" Nagase repeated. Good point. He smiled lightly. "...You really are... intel-" He froze, suddenly, chills shooting down his spine.

"...Buchou?" Ichikawa blinked as Nagase sat up, brows furrowed anxiously.

'Does that mean that my father would attack a person I care about to get revenge against me?" He glanced down at Ichikawa. Remembering all of the things that Hashiba and Fujimori had gone through... he wouldn't possibly allow any of that kind of stuff to happen to his precious--

"Buchou? Are you okay? What're you thinking about? You have a freaky expression on your face..." Ichikawa pointed out. "Why are you looking at me like hat?"

"Uh..." Nagase snapped out of it before taking off his glasses. "...Gaku... if what you said is true... I want you to be careful... you're... _important_ to me."

"..." Ichikawa's cheeks went pink and he fell back onto the bed, smiling happily. "Whoo! I almost fainted!"

"Khhuh." Ichikawa winked an eye open, smiling. Somehow, he felt that was likely the closest thing to a laugh he was going to get out of his beloved Buchou.

"Listen..." Nagase smiled. "I'd better get going... I want to try to confront my father today... if you need anything... here's my cell phone number..." He handed over his card and Ichikawa took it, smiling.

"Your cell number?"

"Right... here, give me your phone; I'll put my number in your phone directly."

"Uh... I don't have one..." Ichikawa pouted, sitting up.

"You have this huge room but no cell phone?" Nagase blinked.

"...Why does everyone think just because I have a big room that I'm rich? I actually... my family isn't really very well-off. I made it here on scholarships. They paid for this room... "

"...You're... poor?"

"I'm not poor... I just have basically no money what-so-ever..." Ichikawa sweat dropped. "I'd get a job, but then my GPA might drop, plus, it's not really allowed."

"...In that case..." Nagase deleted some of the people off of the phone before handing it over. "Take it."

"I'm not gonna take your phone!" Ichikawa exclaimed, pushing it back into Nagase's arms.

"...I have two anyway."

"...Lying face! That's a lying face!" Ichikawa sat up, pointing at Nagase, glaring. "Hypocrite."

"I have money. I have a job."

"You just said you weren't affiliated with your father anymore!"

"I still have plenty money saved up in my credit cards and money from my thesis publications."

"... But..."

"Besides, now that I no longer work for my father, I don't have any need for it."

"Are you sure?" Ichikawa asked, smiling at the thought of owning Nagase Kai's cell phone.

"Um. I'll give you my new number tomorrow..." Nagase reached up for Ichikawa's forehead, feeling to see if he was still feverish. "...Lay down and get some rest... I'll call you in the morning."

Ichikawa blushed lightly. "...Buchou... I think it's great... that you want to change, I mean... but only the whole experimenting on people part... everything else... I think is perfect, just the way it is..." He laid down, pulling the covers up over himself.

Nagase smiled slightly, lifting the younger boy and setting him down in front of the fridge. "...I'll see you tomorrow..."

"I wonder when they're going to get the heat fixed..." Ichikawa shut his eyes, smiling, hugging the phone to his chest. "...Goodnight, Buchou."

"...Hmm." Nagase stood, heading out. He closed the door slowly, locking it from the outside before sliding the key under the door. "Goodnight... Gaku..." Placing his hands in his pockets, he headed off to find the exit.

---

"Hashibaa..." Nao whined, their room trashed. "I SAID I'D TALK ABOUT IT WHEN I FELT READY!"

"...I didn't do this... I got here and it was like this... hey, I thought you were gonna wash your hair!" Hashiba snapped.

"Why bother? We're gonna shower again after... we partake in-"

"After we have sex, yeah, I got it..." Hashiba knelt down, raising the journal. "...Someone was looking through all of our things... This was open on the floor..."

"...Who'd do something like this?"

"Matsuriii!" The two turned to grab him and suddenly Nao's phone went off.

Hesitantly, he grabbed it. "...Hello?"

"Seven days..."

"...What?"

"I said, 'seven days'..."

"...Until what?"

"...It's from a movie, you jack-ass... it's a joke."

"...Don't call me a jack ass..." Nao mumbled, annoyed.

"Can I talk to Sora?" Minato snapped.

"It's for you." Nao handed the phone over.

"Hello?"

"Seven days."

"AAAAAAAH!"

"Well excuse me for getting tortured while you guys went to the MOVIES!" Nao snapped.

"Quit bringing that up. Nag nag nag, next time, we'll take you to the movies and let Sora get tortured, okay?"

"...Okay."

"HEY!"

"Nanami wanted me to invite you two over today, since it's nice and cool." Minato snapped.

"...One sec." Hashiba covered the receiver. "Damnit... we wanted to have sex... oh well... at least it's air conditioned there..."

"Oh? They're inviting us over?" Nao pouted. "I should have washed my hair... hey, what about our room?"

"Nao... AIR CONDITIONE-"

"Right. Say yes."

---

"Damnit... we could be having sex, but nooooo, we have to go and be NIIICE..." Minato was covering the receiver of the phone.

"Shinichiro!" Nanami scolded, cooking. "...I'm giving you the burnt ones!"

"Hellooooo?"

"I'm here." Minato snapped. "...Hey, do you have your friend Ichikawa's phone number?"

"...No, but I'm right below his dorm, want me to go get him?"

"We want him to come, too, and..." He grimaced, glancing at Nanami, who glared, raising a greasy spatula as a warning. "...We want him to bring Nagase... with him."

"...Nagase?" Sora's eyes widened. "...He's here?"

"Yeah."

"..." Sora bit his thumb. Was it Nagase that had done this to his room?

"Nagase's here?" Nao blinked. "...Huh. I thought he died."

"He was your partner and all you can say is 'huh… I thought he died.' WHAT THE HELL!" Sora snapped.

"More like supervisor…"

"Invite Matsuri, too, then get your asses over here, we're having Soushi for dinner."

"…You're cooking him? Niichan, that's gross! He won't be sweet at all, flavorless, ugh-"

"Don't be a smart ass, or I'll turn the heat up."

"We'll bring gifts!"

---

**AN**: Okay, that's it for chapter 2. Next chapter: Nao, Matsuri, and Hashiba go over to Nanami and Minato's, where they meet up with Soushi, Ayano, and the ultra-cutie, Kano-kun! Yay! Cuteness ensues, but more importantly, Hashiba finds the missing pages to Nao's journal! Will he read them? Will he confront Nao? Why wouldn't Nao just throw them away? Dummy. Catch ya next time.


	3. Dinner and an investigation

**AN**: Sorry it took so long to finish this chapter. I've had work and crap. -.- anyway, things start to get interesting in this chapter. Aizawa returns and **there's a lemon scene! YAOI WARNING!**

--- means a switch of scene

-.-.- means a switch into a flash back.

---

"Matsuri... can we come in, or are you doing something naughty?" Nao knocked on the door, Hashiba snickering behind him.

"What would I be doing that's naughty!" Matsuri called, annoyed, reading a book from inside.

"..." Nao pushed the door open, poking his head inside. "Matsuri-chan, we were all invited over to Nanami-chan's and Niichan's for dinner."

"'We were all?'" Matsuri blinked, setting the book on his night stand as he sat up, stretching. "You, Sora, and I?"

"Um." Nao nodded, entering when Sora gave him a shove, making his presence known, wordlessly.. "And also, Ichikawa-kun and Nagase Kai."

"Nagase...?" Matsuri blinked, confused.

"Eh." Sora shrugged. "Apparently, he and Ichikawa have been hanging out, and we didn't even know about it."

"...Cool." Matsuri smiled a cute smile.

"NO IT'S NOT!" Sora wailed, annoyed. "HOW CAN HE BE SO FOOLISH AS TO-"

"Ichikawa-kun actually, despite what one might think about him, is far wiser than you'd think when it comes to crushing on that guy... hey, you know what?" Matsuri blinked, suddenly, placing a finger to his chin, thoughtfully. "I haven't even met this Nagase guy... ever. I think it might be interesting to meet him. After all, you did say he was the person who allowed you to escape the lab, right?"

"So what? Nao shoved Aizawa down no problem-" Sora started, but was cut off.

"Twice." Nao beamed.

"Whatever, if Aizawa had tried to stop us, we would have just trampled him!"

"Then why did you freeze up when he held a lighter to your hair?" Nao muttered, annoyed with the fact that Sora was implying that he was weak.

"...Because of trauma."

"Tshh."

"Anyway, let's quit stalling. I want to eat Nanami-chan's home-made dinner! Remember those from back in the day, Matsuri!"

"Aaaaaah!" Matsuri clasped his hands together, excitedly, eyes shining. "It's been nearly six years, yet I've never once forgotten the sweet sweet taste!"

"..." Nao sweat dropped. "I don't remember it..."

"You don't eat." The two snapped, and Nao glared.

"Yes, I do!"

"When?"

"When I get hungry! I eat at lunch! **You've _seen_ me eat**!"

"Anyway, let's get going." Sora smiled, relieved.

"Sorry guys, you'll have to cancel." Matsuri shrugged. "We have a job this afternoon."

"WHAT!" The two wailed.

"A job is a job."

"Who would be inconsiderate enough to hire us on a day like today!"

"Someone named..." Matsuri checked. "...Sakura Hiromu..."

"Why does that name sound familiar?" Sora blinked, raising a finger to his chin, thoughtfully.

"..." Nao growled, annoyed. "What's he want us to do?"

"He says he needs help with his laundry. Apparently, he took a spill down the stairs recently."

"Does that guy ever **not** get hurt?" Nao huffed. He didn't really care about going to Nanami's as much as he cared about figuring out what happened to their room- though the air conditioning would be nice... but to waste his afternoon helping that selfish brat...

"...Oh! Now I remember!" Sora exclaimed, smashing his fist into his other palm, suddenly recalling where he'd heard of Hiromu. "...He's the ghost kid in Ichikawa's class who I kissed!"

"YOU SAID YOU DIDN'T!" Nao snapped before blushing, turning to glance out the window, nonchalantly. "...In any case... I'm sick of doing laundry. That's been my chore for the past ten days. Everyone wants me to do their laundry."

"...But we can't just make him do it himself... oh well..." Sora pouted. "Let's get Ichikawa and that Nagase bastard. After that, we can maybe all do the kid's laundry together, and then hurry over."

"Good idea, Hashiba!" Nao smiled.

"For once." Matsuri teased and Sora glared at him.

---

"Eh?" Ichikawa opened the door, tired. "...Sora-sempai... Fujimori-sempai... Honjou-sempai... what're you three doing here?"

"Hey, Ichikawa! Ya hungry!" Sora asked.

"...Not really... I actually feel a little sick... Why?"

"Nanami-chan invited us over for dinner! Is uh... there anyone else in here with you?" Hashiba glanced around.

"...No... I don't feel too up to dinner tonight, I actually feel pretty sick..." Ichikawa yawned. "I'll take a rain check."

"A ring check? What's that?" Sora blinked.

"No... Rain check... you know, you go to a store, and if they're out of something they give you a rain check." Ichikawa yawned again.

"I always thought it was a ren check."

"The hell is a ren check?" Nao snapped. "It's reign check. Reigns, like on a deer."

"No it's not! It's rain check!" Ichikawa snapped. "A rain check was once a ticket (that's the check part) for future use issued to spectators at an outdoor event that had been postponed or interrupted by rain. That's where it gets its name- it's English!"

"...oh..." The two blinked.

"I just know whenever I go to the store and they're out of my favorite on-sale food items, like donuts, or candy, or ice cream," Matsuri listed.

"Or ramen, or rice, or pocky, or chicken, or sushi-" Sora listed, excitedly.

"They'd give us a rain check." Matsuri beamed.

"...Okay... now I'm hungry..." Ichikawa pouted. "...And very thirsty..."

"That reminds me!" Nao exclaimed. "Do you still have my soda?"

"I just threw it out today-"

"Eh! It's not even a week old! It's still good!" Nao pouted.

"What do you want soda for? We're going to Nanami-chan's!" Sora snapped.

"...Oh yeah..."

"Only if we help Sakura-kun first." Matsuri snapped.

"Hiromu?" Ichikawa blinked. "He wasn't in gym class this morning, where was he? Is he okay?"

"He fell down the stairs." Matsuri replied. "And as our job, we're supposed to help him do his laundry, but we got invited to eat with Nanami-chan."

"Well I don't think I could hold down any food anyway, just let me take care of it!" Ichikawa smiled.

"But Ichikawa-kun-"

"Don't worry about it! And forget the legal work, just act like Hiromu canceled! I'll help him as his friend! That way you guys can go have your dinner, and Hiromu and I can look out for each other!"

"...Look out for each other?" Sora blinked. "Are you sick?"

"A little, but it's not contagious. I just am overheated!" Ichikawa perked. "Don't worry about it!"

"But the invitation was for you, too... and now I think I know why..." Nao blinked. "Maybe Nanami-chan wanted to give you a physical."

"Nope. He already did!" Ichikawa smiled. "I'll be fine! You guys go have fun!"

"But the invitation was also for Nagase." Sora snapped, getting more serious. "Ichikawa, have you been seeing him without our knowing it?"

"Eh? If by that you mean, have I seen him, then the answer is yes!"

"...Why didn't you say anything?" Sora snapped.

"..." Ichikawa blinked. "Sora-sempai..." He smiled, nervously. "...You're not mad at me, are you?"

"Were you keeping it secret?" Sora asked.

"..." Nao and Matsuri glanced between the blue haired boys.

"...Well... I never bothered to bring it up because I didn't think you cared..."

"Before the incident, you mentioned him every single day. Afterward, as far as I knew, he was either dead or had run off."

Ichikawa's smile faded and he glared. "So then YOU were the one lying to ME when you told me you figured and hoped he was alright!"

"I never said I hoped he'd be alright. Don't turn this around onto me, Ichikawa! I never lied to you or tried to deceive you."

"..." Ichikawa glared at him. "You never had to. I trust your friends."

"My friends never tried to-" Sora stopped, eyes widening before glancing at Nao, who blinked, hurt.

"..." Ichikawa sighed. "...Nagase-Buchou asked me not to mention him. He told me that it would only complicate things. He doesn't want to have anything to do with you guys."

"Why weren't you just honest about it?" Matsuri blinked. "Lying made it complicated."

"I'm being honest now. Is it too late?" Ichikawa asked, glancing at Sora, who glared.

"It's never too late... that's what Kuu-chan is about to say."

Sora blinked, glancing at Nao, who smiled at Ichikawa, then turned to Sora.

"Ne?"

"...Mpf..." Sora sighed, glancing at Ichikawa. "...Yeah... I guess..."

"Sora-sempai... if anything weird happened, you'd be the first one to know... but Nagase-Buchou isn't how you think... or thought about him..."

"Nanami's invitation was for the five of us..." Sora sighed. "...I think he has the right idea. My thinking is that he wants us all to get to know each other better."

"...Well you guys go. Tell Nanami-chan I didn't feel up to it... but that I'll take that _ring_ check." He winked, and Sora smiled lightly as Nao chuckled, Matsuri shaking his head.

---

"Where are the Jack of All Trades?" Hiromu pouted.

"...You wanted them specifically? I told them I wanted to help!" Ichikawa pouted.

"Oh... I just wanted to see them, that's all, but you can help me... sorry to trouble you..."Hiromu pouted, smiling.

"I was worried about you." Ichikawa whipped out a purple permanent marker. "...Can I be the first to sign it? Pleeeeeeeease!"

"..." Hiromu smiled, gesturing to his leg. "You can be the second. Someone else already signed it."

"Eh?" Ichikawa's eye twitched. Minato had been the first to sign it. The signature read:

Sakura-kun,

I'm sorry I accidentally knocked you down the stairs...

...In all fairness, you shouldn't have been standing behind me in the first place.

Get well soon.

-Minato Shinichiro

Ichikawa sweat dropped, signing beside it. "Hiromu, where's your laundry?"

"I bundled it up in the corner... there's a lot of it..."

"Eeeeh..." Ichikawa sweat dropped. There was a mountain of laundry. "...Hiromu... when did you break your leg?"

"Yesterday."

"...And... what was your excuse before that?"

"...Laziness. It was actually pretty convenient that he broke my leg. I wouldn't have had anything to wear today!"

"... How many uniforms do you HAVE?"

"Twenty six. One for every school day of the month- and a couple extra!"

"...You really don't like doing laundry... do you?"

"Hate it."

---

"Where're the others?" Nanami blinked, opening the door so the guys could come inside.

"Ichikawa didn't want to come." Sora shrugged before stopping dead in his tracks at the sight before him.

"..._Konnichiwa, Sora-kuuun_!"

A pink bunny was greeting him from two inches in front of his face.

"...Ayano-nichaaaan..." Sora shoved his hand away, annoyed. "I'm not four."

"_Konnichiwa, bijin no Sunao-kun_!" Ayano held the bunny in front of Nao, making it hug his face.

"..." Nao slowly raised a hand up, patting the bunny on the head. "...Nice to see you, too... Ayano-oniichan."

"Ah! It's cute!" Matsuri grabbed the puppet, yanking it off of Ayano's hand and putting it on. "...Look at that! Where'd you get it?"

"...I had it when I was a child... can I have it back now, please?" Ayano pouted, his hand feeling naked without having a rabbit to cover it up.

"You better give it back, Matsuri. This guy does surgeries with that thing on."

"Don't joke about things like that..." Ayano huffed, taking it back. "I don't do the surgeries. I'm a psychiatric doctor, silly!"

"...Yeah... okay..." Matsuri sweat dropped. "You didn't have it on when you took care of Sora after his fall."

"Kano-kun wasn't around." Ayano gestured to Kano, who was sitting quietly on the couch, watching them all.

"...Hi there, Kano-kun!" Sora ran up to him, plopping down on the couch beside him. Kano scooted to the other side, nervously.

"Oi..." Ayano lowered the rabbit, protectively heading over to his beloved adopted son. "Try not to make any sudden movements or anything that would frighten him. He's like a rabbit himself, _na! Kano-kun_!" He raised the rabbit, letting it take over the last of his sentence. Kano smiled, eyes lighting up a little as he sat up straight.

Nanami smiled lightly. "Ruyoya-san is going on a business trip next week, and children absolutely are not permitted, so we're going to be taking care of him for a bit."

"..." Nao, Matsuri, and Sora glanced at each other before sloooowly glancing at Minato, all gulping, nervously.

"What's that look for?" He snapped, and they all raised their hands up in unison, defensively.

"Nandemo nai!"

"You'd be a great father-figure if it's just a week!"

"I bet Kano-kun's studies will be better than ever!"

"Right! And he'll start getting all A's!"

"...Kano-kun is only five... he hasn't started school yet..." Ayano sweat dropped. "He'll be starting this fall."

"Oh..." The three blinked.

"Where's Aizawa's son? Is he not coming, either?" Soushi asked, sipping tea as he sat down beside Kano.

"No... we didn't see him, and since Ichikawa couldn't come, we didn't bother looking."

"He wasn't with Ichikawa-kun?" Nanami blinked.

"No..." Sora and Nao blinked, glancing at each other before glancing back at Nanami. "...You mean he was in the dormitory?"

"He had to have been if he kept his word." Minato scoffed. "He promised he'd take care of Ichikawa and make sure he got home okay."

"Ichikawa was really that sick?" Sora blinked.

"He passed out during one of his classes and Nagase Kai brought him to the infirmary, then he took him straight home." Nanami smiled. "He even called a little bit ago to let us know that Ichikawa-kun was doing well."

"..." Sora and Matsuri glanced at each other. "Just because someone acts nice doesn't mean they're not misleading us." The two muttered, and Nao shot them an angry look. "GYEE!" The two flinched.

"It's true..." Nao muttered, folding his arms. "...Also... even though he risked his life to save us..."

"You think the whole thing may be part of some kind of elaborate back-up plan?" Nanami blinked.

"I wouldn't put it past them." Nao nodded.

"Well for now... let's enjoy dinner." Nanami clasped his hands together, merrily.

"Okay." Everyone smiled.

---

"That was a GOOD meal." Soushi turned to Nanami. "Nanami, is there anything you don't excel at?"

"Lots of things, don't try to flatter him." Minato huffed.

"What do you mean there're a lot of things I don't excel at?" Nanami pouted and Soushi smirked.

"..." Matsuri put a tally under Soushi's name on a notebook he'd been keeping for the past two hours.

"So, how is school going, boys?" Ayano smiled to them, merrily. "...Are you keeping your grades up?"

"They'd be higher if the boys wouldn't cut gym class." Minato snapped. "And study hall."

"Cutting classes isn't a good idea." Ayano blinked. "You'll regret it when you get older if it affects your grade negatively."

Ah." Sora shrugged. "I only cut because Nao did. I was worried."

"I only cut because it's hot." Nao huffed. "And there's no way I'm running five miles in that heat."

"Hot?" Ayano cocked his head to the side. "But your school is air conditioned, isn't it?"

"The air conditioning broke." Nanami explained. "It's very hot there. I hope they took care of that today."

"I agree. The heat sucks." Minato snapped, folding his arms. "It makes all of my students sleepy."

"Sure that's not your lecture?" Sora muttered.

"That's only you, Hashiba." Nao snapped. "Usually only you sleep. Today five students were sleepy. Even I felt sleepy."

"It may not be that they're drowsy so much as it could be that... well..." Nanami looked up, thoughtfully. "I mean I don't want to give you guys an excuse to skip classes or anything, but many students came into my office today with symptoms of over-heat exhaustion."

"Like Ichikawa-kun?" Nao blinked.

"Um." Nanami nodded. "Though all of the students who had swimming as their optional physical fitness class seemed fine."

"Wish I'd taken swimming as my physical fitness class..." Hashiba pouted.

"You have to be a fourth year senior to take it, baka." Nao snapped.

"Oh..."

"Speaking of swimming!" Ayano smiled. "Shinichiro-san, why don't you tell them about your invitation?"

"Ah. Right." Minato smiled to them. "A friend of mine owns a hot spring vacation place a bit aways. It'd be half a day to get there, but it's a nice resort. I thought we could all go there this fall before school goes back into session."

"Oh..." The others blinked. "That sounds like fun."

"...Hot springs?" Nao blinked, confused. "What's that?"

"It's a place with lots of small pools full of hot water."

"Pools?" Nao cringed.

"More like... giant baths!" Hashiba reassured him. "They're not even that deep!"

"I feel a little uncomfortable talking about hot springs... knowing how warm it'll be when we go home." Matsuri pouted.

"I envy you guys. Having a fully functioning air conditioning unit suuuuure sucks." Minato sprawled out on his bean bag in front of their plasma screen TV. "...Yep, you guys suuure are lucky."

"SHINICHIRO!" Nanami scolded, angrily. "That's terrible!"

Soushi chuckled. "If you three would like to, you're welcome to spend the night at my place. Of course... you're welcome as well, Nanami..."

"HEY!" Minato sat up, angrily.

"...That sounds nice, but, we have to figure out what happened to our room." Sora shrugged.

"Why? What happened to it?" Matsuri blinked.

"Someone went in there while we were showering and tore the place up." Hashiba huffed.

"..." Everyone fell silent.

"I know! Weird, huh!" Sora huffed. "I bet it was that Naga-"

"You mean showering together?" Ayano covered Kano's ears with the pink rabbit's paws.

Sora and Nao blushed. "N-No! We just both went to the showers, in different stalls!"

"...Riiiiight..." Matsuri teased, and Nao wacked him with a pillow cushion from the couch.

Nanami chuckled. "Well, it's getting late, but I think you boys had best head back to your place so you can get a full night's sleep. Shinichiro, since you can't wait to get out of his air conditioning, since it 'sucks' so bad, you can take them home! Also, take a look around their apartment to see if you can find out any clues as to who went through their things... It wasn't you, was it, Honjou-kun?"

"NO!"

"Fine..." Minato huffed, opening the door. "SOUSHI, YOU HAVE TO LEAVE, TOO!"

"Are you boys sure you don't want to come back to my place? I have air conditioning." Soushi offered.

"Or my place!" Ayano piped up, picking Kano up and hoisting him over his shoulder. "You can play with Kano!"

"Does he even play? Or does he just sit there?"

"_Kano is a little boy! Of course he plays_!" The bunny piped up.

"...What's he play?" Sora blinked as the group headed out. "Stare at the wall for nine hours?"

"That was my favorite game in the lab." Nao admitted, grabbing his coat. Everyone sweat dropped.

"Thanks for coming!" Nanami waved, smiling nervously, breaking everyone out of their sudden space-out.

"Don't I get a goodnight kiss?" Soushi turned, puckering up.

"Gyaaah!" Minato stumbled away, having been walking right behind him so as to keep him away from Nanami. "NO THANK YOU!"

"Not from you." Soushi huffed before glancing down at Nao. "...Then how about from another bijin no bishounen?"

"From me?" Nao blushed pointing at himself.

"Just a kiss on the cheek! We're like family, right?"

"Like family?" Nao blinked, innocently before pecking Soushi on the cheek.

"_WAAAI! Kano-kun, do you want a kiss from pretty Sunao, too! I want one! I want one!"_ The bunny waved its small arms around and Nao giggled before kissing the bunny on the nose.

"_Mmmmmuaa_!" The bunny grabbed Nao's cheeks before covering its mouth. "_Oh, I'm a shy bunny, now! Thank you Pretty Sunao! Naa? Kano-kun? Don't you want a kiss from a pretty hime_?"

"Hime? Ore-?" Nao blushed and Kano stared at him before turning his cheek up.

"...Okay."

"Aww!" Matsuri cooed, clasping his hands together. "Kano-kun, you're so cute!"

Nao pecked Kano on the cheek.

---

"The scene of the crime!" Hashiba turned on the light.

"Augh-!" Nao and Sora gawked.

The room was perfectly clean!

"...Hmm... something strange is going on here..." Matsuri nodded, wearing a detective's outfit, gesturing to Sora's side of the room. "...Not only is Nao's side of the room clean, which is actually pretty normal... but-"

"ISN'T THAT JACKET HOT!" Sora snapped.

"...This isn't normal at all..." Minato stated, suddenly.

"I GET IT! I'M MESSY!" Sora huffed.

"Not that..." Minato snapped. "The air in here... it's not normal to come inside and feel _hotter_... it's as though the air conditioning isn't broken... but the heater is turned on... Matsuri, you're in charge of the dorms over here, right?"

"Right."

"So do you happen to know where the air conditioning unit is kept?"

"...Not a clue. I assign rooms, I didn't build the place."

"Then do you know where I might find someone who would know?"

"..."

---

"Ichikawa-kuuuun!" Sora and Matsuri were banging on his door.

"Why would HE know! He's younger than all of you!" Minato snapped.

"The guy knew where the term 'Rain check' originated from. He knows everything." Sora snapped. "Whenever I have a question that you or Nanami don't know the answer to, I wait until our early morning fights the next day, then I ask him and he knows!"

"...Yeah, but Hashiba..." Nao mumbled, quietly. "...You're the kind of person any average person could lie to and you'd buy it easily..."

"My GPA is better than yours!" Hashiba snapped.

"I cut classes."

"HA! You just proved MY point!" Hashiba turned back to banging on the door. "Ichikaaawaaa!"

"...How?" Nao huffed. "Cutting classes when it's hot is smart!"

"But it's bad!"

"That doesn't have anything to do with our argument. If we were arguing over who's a better person morally, then yeah, I guess you'd win, but when it comes to smarts it's me." Nao huffed.

"You guuuuys, it's eleven at night." Ichikawa whined, opening the door. "I finished his laundry... What do you want?"

"Do you know where the air conditioning unit is here?" Hashiba asked.

"Why would I know?" Ichikawa whined.

"Because you're really smart when it comes to everything!" Hashiba stated.

"I know where it is. It's on the third floor, fifth door on the right." Ichikawa pointed at the ceiling.

"...If you knew, why would you ask-"

"It strengthens my confidence level when people tell me how smart I am." Ichikawa rubbed the back of his head.

"So you were ego cruising?" Minato arched a brow.

"I'm sorry I couldn't make it to your dinner thing Minato-sensei." Ichikawa bowed, apologetically.

"It's alright." Minato smiled. "How are you feeling?"

"Actually, I think if I could just sleep it off, I'd feel worlds better, but people keep interrupting my sleep..." Ichikawa muttered.

"Don't worry. We're about to get to the bottom of this whole air conditioning thing." Minato reassured him.

"You mean to the top." Ichikawa pointed up again. "Third floor, fifth door on the right."

"...Right..."

"I bet it was Nagase who wrecked our room." Hashiba whispered to Nao, suddenly before turning to Ichikawa. "Hey, what time did you get back?"

"I don't know... around two..."

"...So then..." Hashiba blinked. "Probably around the same time as us... so when did Nagase leave here?"

"Um..." Ichikawa glanced at the clock. "...Around two forty five..."

"That's when we headed to the showers, Hashiba." Nao blinked.

"HEY! ARE YOU GUYS SUSPECTING NAGASE-BUCHOU OF SOMETHING!" Ichikawa wailed. "He's a good person, very kind! Look, he even gave me his cell phone!" He pointed.

"In that case, you have nothing to worry about Ichikawa-kun." Minato spoke up, suddenly. "Nagase Kai couldn't have been the one to do it. He called me around three o'clock. If you had his cell phone, he would have had to have gone elsewhere in order to use a pay phone, or home. The caller ID said caller unknown, and if he had used Nao or Sora's cells, their names would have popped up. Also, there aren't any payphones here."

"Unless he has more than one phone!" Hashiba exclaimed.

"...He doesn't." Nao snapped. "He doesn't carry them around, anyway. He carries one, that one," He pointed at Ichikawa's. "And it annoys him to have to do it."

"Why?" Sora blinked.

"Because he doesn't like annoying ring-tones, so he puts it on vibrate and when it goes off in his pocket-"

"KYAAA! I don't want to hear about that! Not from YOU!" Ichikawa snapped, covering his mouth. "I feel better, already... let's go find the air conditioning!"

"Right." They all headed upstairs.

---

"...Is that supposed to be welded to that? And... is this missing a dial?" Ichikawa blinked.

"Someone purposefully sabotaged the air conditioning system... that's weird... and sadistic... and not even in the fun sense..." Minato poked it a few times.

"...It has to have been someone who knew their way around both the school AND the dorms..." Nao blinked.

"AHA! I know who did it!" Sora pointed at Ichikawa, who glared.

"WHY WOULD I DO IT IF I KNEW I'D RISK GETTING HEAT  
STROKE AFTERWARD!"

"...Good point... or is it?"

"YES! IT IS!" Nao and Matsuri snapped at him.

"Or maybe SO good it's his alibi!"

"...Sora-sempai... first you don't trust Nagase-Buchou, and now you don't trust me!" Ichikawa pouted.

"Who else could have done it?" Sora huffed.

"...Come to think of it..." Minato glanced at Ichikawa. "How is it that you knew? Ichikawa-kun?"

"Suddenly I feel like I'm being interrogated!" Ichikawa snapped. "I'm trying to help, you know!"

"It's not like that." Minato placed a hand on his shoulder. "But if we can figure out how it is that you knew, maybe we can figure out how the culprit knew."

"When I came to join this school, I looked up the dorms on the internet before the year began. That's how I managed to bag my huge inexpensive room." Ichikawa huffed, folding his arms.

"...It's on the internet?"

"...Well... not exactly..." Ichikawa blushed, averting his gaze. "I mean it is... but..."

"...You HACKED into the school's computer system!" Minato's jaw dropped and Ichikawa chuckled, nervously, scratching his cheek.

"It's called planning ahead... OKAY! SO I COULD MOST DEFINETELY HAVE DONE THIS AND LOTS OF OTHER THINGS! BUT I DIDN'T, OKAY!"

"...What are your hobbies?" Nao sweat dropped.

"Reading... researching... watching the news..." Ichikawa mumbled, bashfully.

"...Gaku-chan. Should be Geek-chan." Sora muttered. "...I guess it shouldn't come as a surprise. Just look at the shirts you wear."

"My grandmother buys these for me... it'd be offensive if I didn't wear them..."

"GRAMMA AIN'T HERE!"

"Guys... whoever did this left their tools behind." Minato knelt down beside them.

"Brilliant! We can dust for finger prints and stuff!" Hashiba exclaimed.

"..." Minato sweat dropped. "...Good idea.."

"I think Minato-sensei just wanted to fix the air conditioning... but this is a crime scene, and should be treated as such!" Ichikawa exclaimed.

"Good idea, Ichikawa-kun. No one touch anything."

"..." Nao stumbled backward, suddenly, after having pulled the welding off with a screw driver and the back of a hammer. "...What'd you guys say?"

"..." The others sweat dropped.

---

Sora sighed as he and Sunao entered their room. They each laid down on their own bed. Despite that they'd gotten the welded hunk of metal off of the air conditioning unit, it was still broken.

"...Why are you over there? You still haven't even gotten your things out of Ichikawa's room yet..." Hashiba glanced at him. "...Are you mad at me?"

"It's too hot to sleep together." Nao muttered.

"But you don't even have any sheets. You'll sweat right onto the bed and ruin it."

"...Hashiba..." Nao headed over to the blue haired teen's bed, lying down on it. "...Even through the humor... is their truth to your jokes and accusations?"

"About Nagase? Or you?" Hashiba shifted, moving an arm around his lover.

"...Me." Nao whispered, burying his head in the crook of Hashiba's neck.

"...No. Through the humor, we'll get over it. Slowly, we'll all forget... and even if we can't... we'll be family. No one holds any grudges against you. I promise."

"...Is it impossible for Nagase-san... to share in that?"

"He has no attachments to any of us."

"He has attachments to Ichikawa-kun."

"...Fujimori... I don't know..."

Nao shut his eyes.

"...Why do you ask? You seem the least trusting of him."

"...That's because I can relate to him so well..."

"Nao..." Sora shifted again, tilting Nao's chin up. "...You have to learn to forgive yourself. We all forgive you..."

"..." Nao's eyes watered and he moved quickly to get out of Sora's reassuring hold. Nao dug his chin into Hashiba's chest; pouting.

"Ah. You're in your 'I'm not talking anymore, so don't talk to me, so there!' mode." Hashiba smirked, playfully toying with one of Nao's lengthy sideburns, taking it up in between in fingers and brushing it across Nao's cheek. "Nao..."

"Hmpf!"

"...Nao..." Sora whispered, playfully, tracing a finger along Nao's lips.

Munch

"..." Sora winced at the pain, before sighing. "Alright... I get the idea... I'm going about getting noises out of you the wrong way, aren't I?" He slipped a hand up Nao's shirt.

"Kusou..." Nao released his finger and shoved Sora against the wall. "I'm not in the mood!"

"..." Sora rolled over onto his side, watching Nao.

Nao stared at his bed, sweat dribbling down his face, but not from the heat, but out of nervousness. He could feel Sora watching him.

Slowly, slooooowly, he turned around, glancing at Hashiba, who was still wearing that expecting playful expression.

"..."

Hashiba's finger raised, once again, to Nao's lips, but this time Nao was the one guiding it there. His tongue slid upward from Sora's palm to his finger, licking the blood up before the finger was entirely engulfed in the small mouth. Nao then pulled it out, kissing the tip.

"I'm sorry... Kuu-chan..."

Sora smiled, lightly. "...So hot..."

Nao nodded before blushing, realizing what Hashiba had meant.

"..." The pink haired bishounen shut his eyes as Hashiba rolled him into his back, gently.

"Sunao..."

"Kuu-chan... It's too hot..."

"...It's never too hot... we can always sneak in another shower."

"...Then... be gentle tonight..."

"I'm gentle every night." Sora whispered, licking Nao under his ear before blowing cool air onto it.

"...Mmn..." Nao reopened his eyes. "Hashiba..."

"I asked you to call me Kuu-chan..." Sora slowly raised Nao by the lower back, making him arch as the blue haired teen's fingers worked swiftly and skillfully to undo Nao's pants and slide them down to his thighs.

"Mmn..." Nao shut his eyes again, biting his knuckles as Sora placed one hand on the side of Nao's leg, the other gripping Nao's underwear.

"...Nao..." Sora whispered. Despite that he enjoyed making love with Nao, who at the moment, seemed to be glowing like an angel from the moonlight, he had another agenda.

"What is it?" Nao mumbled.

"...Is it okay?" Sora whispered.

"...?" Nao blinked, blushing. Of course it was okay! When had it ever not been! Baka Hashiba!

"...Eh." Nao nodded, feeling more embarrassed by Sora's having even asked. Now it felt like what they were doing was naughty.

"...Can I just ask you one question? About the lab?"

Nao blinked, taken aback. "...What?"

"...Just tell me... I mean... they did all sorts of things to us..."

Nao cringed. Hashiba didn't... didn't want to do those things, did he? Nooooot the right kind of kinky. Not at all.

"...Did they ever do anything like this to you?"

"...No..." Nao was relieved. So that's all he wanted to ask.

"...Promise?"

"...I promise..." Nao blinked before gasping, fingers tightening around the sheets as Sora mouthed him. "Aaah..." He blushed crimson, embarrassed by his sudden outburst.

Hashiba pulled back. "...Caught you by surprise?" He snickered.

"You talk too much!" Nao blushed. "Do you want to have a conversation or do you want to- nnn..." He winced as Hashiba licked up his neck, his hands working below the belt.

Nao whimpered, breathing heavier now, tilting his head to the side to give Hashiba more room to kiss and bite his neck.

"Sunao..." Hashiba murmured into Nao's neck before nipping at his collar bone. "...Do you love me?"

"Of course, baka..." Nao whispered as Hashiba's fingers drifted slowly, delicately up Nao's hardened member.

Sora glanced at Nao's face. Despite his snapping back, he was wearing an almost angelic expression. His eyes were also gleaming with a sincerity that no one could possibly doubt. Hashiba lowered his head, shaking it to rid himself of these thoughts. In fact, Nao was more like a demon than an angel... and the logical part of his brain warned AGAINST trusting Nao when it came to many things, but...

Nao had created Ran out of somewhere. Perhaps it was a mix of the boy's deeply rooted yearn for affection as well as his need for comfort and a reassurance that he would NOT be abandoned...

That and his libido. -,-

The two had had many appointments with Ruyoya, or Ayano-chan as they referred to him as, at his psychiatric ward... the man had insisted that if they open up more and let the emotions that Ran and Yoru let out that they themselves had been suppressing, slowly their minds would erase any need for the mental self-defense mechanisms.

"..." Hashiba sweat dropped. 'So I'm supposed to act like a controlling pervert when in bed with Nao? But I can't do that... but if Ran liked it...'

"Sunao..." Sora gripped Nao's wrists in his own, pinning them above Nao's head. Nao blushed, glancing up at Sora, nervously.

"...Don't give me that look." Sora huffed before leaning down to leave his mark on him.

Nao started trembling, nervously, shutting his eyes tight.

"Hmm?" Sora smirked. "Trembling in anticipation?"

"No..." Nao whispered, struggling to free his hands. "Hashiba... igh! Let go... please!"

Sora blinked, glancing at Nao. '...How would Ayano know what Nao wants in bed anyway!'

He released Nao's hands before gripping the boy's waist and leaning down, kissing Nao forcefully.

Nao blushed before wrapping his arms around Sora's neck. He didn't know what Sora was trying to pull just now, but he knew this was Sora's way of apologizing.

"Kuu-chan..." Nao mumbled once Sora released his lips. Sora began stroking his cheek for a moment before sitting up, pulling Nao against him.

"Fujimori..."

"Kuu-chan?" Nao blinked.

"...I'm going to make love to you tonight, okay, Fujimori? I want us both to enjoy it... lately I've been worried... I know you just told me not to talk too much... but I just want to be sure that nothing I do-"

Sunao cut him off in a fit of giggles.

"..." Sora's eyes slowly narrowed and he moved Nao away from him gently, and onto the floor.

"Hey!" Nao got back up onto the bed, wrapping his arms around Sora as he laid down to go to sleep. "Hear me out!"

"Like you did me?"

"It's just that you seem so in-experienced to all this, even when you're supposed to be seme!"

"What's seme?"

"..." Nao sweat dropped, blushing. If he explained what a seme was to Sora, he'd have to explain how he knew, and he was NOT about to tell Sora that he secretly read shoujo manga in their high school library.

"...Um... the one who's on top-ANYWAY, why don't you make love to me now, then ask me if it's okay later- if you even have to ask at all... Kuu-chan... I punch you in the face when you say something that slightly annoys me. Don't you think I'd cream you if you touched me in ways I felt were inappropriate?"

"Then why didn't you kick me instead of just asking me to let go a moment ago?"

"Because you were on my leg."

"...Oh..." Sora shrank down to a tenth of his size, embarrassed.

"Besides... even that wouldn't have been so bad... it's just that..." Nao held Toshizo up before tossing him against the wall across the room. "...I was laying on that- it was very uncomfortable."

"IS NOT! TOSHIZO IS EXTREMELY COMFORTABLE AND IF NOT IT'S BECAUSE YOU SEWED HIM WRONG!"

"...Hashiba..." Nao glanced over at his bed, where Toshizo had landed. "...From now on... I want you to sleep with me... not some stuffed animal."

"...So you're fine with how I make love to you?"

Nao blinked. "...Well... someone was giving me guff the other day about how you're always on top."

"...How'd they know?" Hashiba tried to keep a straight face on when asking, but luckily, Nao seemed to take him completely seriously.

"I don't know... but tonight, I want to be on top!"

"...But you're a bottom."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN I'M A BOTTOM?"

"I could very easily be subdued into being bottom... but... only by the right kind of person, I think... maybe if you put on a bunny girl outfit or a dominatrix get-up... but as you are... you're a bottom."

"..." Nao glared. "Why's that! Because you think you're better than me!"

"..." Sora's face paled. "Wha? Huh? No! It has nothing to do with that!"

"Because you're stronger and faster and last longer, you think you get to be on top all the time? I thought we were equals!"

"..." Hashiba stared at him, beady eyed. Where was all this coming from? Nao opened his mouth to yell again, but Hashiba suddenly caressed his cheek, shutting him up. He smiled. "...We are equals, Nao. You're right. No one should be on top... so..." He pulled Nao up onto his lap. "...There's this position I've been wanting to try out."

Nao blinked blushing. "Huh?"

"You said you wanted to be on top, right?" Hashiba smirked, pressing Nao into the bed for a moment and removing his pants and underwear. He then stood, unbuckling his belt and tossing it to the floor before letting his pants drop. He tugged off his boxers, tossing them aside before reaching down and pulling his shirt up and off over his head. It joined his crumbled clothes on the floor and he sat down on the bed again, pulling Nao up against him, he seated the boy on his lap.

Nao blushed, a little- modestly. He tugged his shirt down to cover himself, but Sora placed a hand over his.

"...We're a little past that aren't we?" Sora teased, eyes narrowing.

Nao blushed before gasping as Hashiba grabbed his waist, lifting him. Sora shifted so his erection pressed against Nao's...

"Waah! Like this!" Nao blushed. "Sitting up!"

"No one's technically on top, right?" Hashiba winked, pulling Nao down onto him.

"Aaaaaah!" Nao cried out, fingers gripping Hashiba's shoulders as he buried his head in the older boy's chest, arching his back so much Sora assumed it must hurt.

"... Did it hurt?" Sora blinked.

"Of course it hurts! You didn't prepare me!"

"You never complained about that before." Hashiba huffed. "I always thought it felt normal-"

"I mean I wasn't expecting it!"

"...Oh... then pay better attention." Hashiba held Nao's sides tighter, lifting him again before making him sit down again. The tightness that engulfed his throbbing member nearly sent him over the edge- and so soon into the game, too… what a pity. This was going to end too fast…

"Aaah..." Nao whimpered, his grip loosening as he wrapped his arms around Hashiba's neck.

"...This is great..." Hashiba panted, lifting Nao again. "But if you want to be my equal or on top, you have to do some of the work, right?"

"Mn..." Nao raised himself up, eyes closed as he enjoyed his Kuu-chan moving inside of him. The pink staining his cheeks hadn't left for the longest time, but now that his eyes opened slightly, and his gaze met with Hashiba's for an instant, he felt slightly more reassured and comfortable, and the pink died down a little. He started bucking his hips up and down in time with Sora's thrusts.

"Aaah... Sunao..." Hashiba wrapped his arms around Nao's waist.

Nao whimpered and Sora groaned as the blue haired boy slid inside of him again. Nao's legs tightened around Hashiba, trembling uncontrollably. "...Kuu-chaaan..."

Sora gripped the back of Nao's head, tugging at his hair suddenly and making Nao arch his back, tilting his head back. Hashiba attacked his neck, sucking hard, leaving a match for the hickey he'd left on the left side of Nao's slender neck.

"Kuuu-chaaaan..." Nao moaned as Sora's other hand moved down to Nao's weeping member. He gripped it and started pumping in time with each thrust.

"Nn..." Sora bit down on Nao's shoulder and Nao cried out as the two came together.

Panting, the pair fell down onto the bed together, holding each other tightly.

"...Kuu-chan..." Nao mumbled, wiping the sweat from his brow. "...Let's go shower now..."

"Ah..." Sora nodded, pushing Nao away a little before pulling out of him. "...I came inside... I'm sorry..."

"It's okay..." Nao muttered before sighing. For a moment he just laid there, panting, as Hashiba sat up, inhaling before grabbing a towel and handing it to Nao.

"I hope everyone's asleep."

"We should run so we don't get caught."

"...You're not going to trip are you?"

"HEY! That was the week right after my ankle had healed!" Nao snapped.

"..." Sora stared before his eyes widened. "Oh that's right..."

"_'Oh that's right_!'" Nao mimicked, obviously annoyed. "Ass."

"I'm sorry!" Sora pouted, taking Nao's hand. "Ready to run?"

"Yeah, I guess..."

---

Nagase was reading a magazine in his room when his new cell phone rang. Blinking, he glanced at it. Impossible. There was absolutely no way- the only person he'd given his number to yet was Aizawa...

Slowly, he picked up his phone. Surely enough, it was from his father.

"Moushi moushi?" He answered.

"Kai. You can't keep avoiding me... You can't think of experiments as people or science will never progr-"

Nagase hung up, setting the phone aside before going back to his Sudoku puzzle.

This magazine had been a gift from Ichikawa the day his oh-so-beloved Buchou had asked him to deliver the message to Fujimori.

-.-.-

"Naa! Nagase-Buchou!" Ichikawa materialized behind Nagase, suddenly, as soon as the older teen had set down his test tubes.

"..." He turned to him, thankful that the boy had enough common sense to wait until he'd put them down before surprising him- unlike most of his past assistants.

"The director of the chemistry section of the school wants to talk to you. Are you leaving early again today?" Ichikawa asked, smiling like he always did.

"...Yes." Nagase set his things aside. "Take over for me."

"Sure thing!" Ichikawa turned as Nagase headed out. "Eto- Buchou!"

"Hmm?" Nagase glanced back at him.

"...I wanted to apologize about yesterday... I didn't mean to show you up in front of that professor... but I just... didn't want you to make a mistake and I-"

"Correcting my mistake was very admirable, actually." Nagase replied. Surprisingly, he'd actually meant it when he'd said it. "...I was very pleased with you for having done that as well. Neither I nor the professor probably would ever have noticed if you hadn't pointed it out."

"Oh... thanks!" Ichikawa blushed, rubbing the back of his head. "Nevertheless, I got you a gift in apology!" He raised a flimsy looking gift wrapped in a nice looking wrapping paper.

"...What is it?" Nagase blinked, taken aback. He'd never received a gift before... He took it, opened it and stared at it.

"It's called Sudoku!"

That was apparent by the title on the cover.

"It's a puzzle book! Some of them can be very challenging, I just thought it might be the kind of thing you'd enjoy doing in your free time. They help me to unwind! Have you ever played before?" Ichikawa asked.

"...No... I've never heard of it before..." Nagase admitted, hoping it wasn't too popular. He always hated it when he admitted to not knowing something that basically every one else knew. It made him feel ignorant.

"Really? It's a pretty popular game, here and in North America, now." Ichikawa blinked.

Damn it.

"But you're busy and you have more important things to do. If you don't care about something, it's only natural you don't know much about it, and magazines and games don't seem to be the kind of thing you'd be interested in, Buchou, but I thought you might like this particular one. If you don't, that's okay, but-"

"I'll give it a try. Thank you." Nagase smiled. Ichikawa... there was something about him... despite his obvious crush on Nagase, the chemistry club manager liked him... he seemed different from the other students.

He was probably the only person Nagase had ever liked. It was strange because... his father had warned him about taking on an assistant, because 'young people have a tendency to grow attached to other young people' as his father had so blatantly put it.

Despite his father's warnings, Nagase decided to take on an assistant when his work started piling up. It didn't help that his father forced him to work so many different assignments at once...

Ichikawa was simply his first choice. Back at the lab, his father would assign him assistants for his work, but they all seemed to be less interested in actually aiding in Nagase's experiments than they were in their big fat pay checks.

Ichikawa's grades _and_ attitude were both the best Nagase could hope for, and the kid had never missed a day of school, either. Even a high scholar was better suited for the job than those idiots… though to be fair, Nagase felt Ichikawa was an exceptional case.

He seemed too good to be true, everything, from his GPA to the crush he had on Nagase was perfect. He was both extremely intelligent as well as easily-manipulatable.

If Nagase could choose anyone in the entire school to call a 'friend' it would be Ichikawa.

---

Now Nagase was on page thirty nine. He was up to the slightly more challenging puzzles. He could easily skip to the last page, but Nagase never had been the type to skip a single page in a book.

His phone rang again.

"Moushi moushi?" He answered.

"Kai, don't hang up on me. What's gotten into you?"

"I can't talk right now." Nagase hung up.

The phone rang again.

Irritated, Nagase answered again. "Moushi mou-"

"Don't moushi moushi me! YOU KNOW WHO I AM! What do you mean 'can't talk'?"

"...I'm in the middle of an experiment."

"No you're not! School's not in session! It's a weekend and I want you to explain yourself."

"Explain myself?" Nagase always got irritated when anyone demanded any kind of explanation from him. "I already did. I want to change. That's all I have to say to you."

Before Nagase could hang up, his father's words immobilized him- but not quite to the extent in which they did Sora and Aizawa's other experiments. Moreso, Nagase's own fear immobilized him in itself.

"I called you on your other phone. A young boy answered. I hung up as soon as I heard his name... why does your previous lab assistant have possession of your phone?" Aizawa smirked.

"...He took it from me." Nagase lied quickly, easily.

"Took it from you?" Aizawa arched a brow.

"By mistake, that is..."

"Do you take me for some kind of fool?" Aizawa snapped, angrily.

"What do you want from me? I'm burnt out. I no longer want to help you or your experiments."

"Is that so?" Aizawa growled.

"Is your interrogation finished? I want to ask you something, Chichi."

"..." Aizawa fell silent.

"...Is it just coincidence that Nanami Kai started working for you a year before I was born, and that my first name is-"

The line went dead.

"..." Nagase glared at the phone before shutting it off. Sighing, he set it on his night stand before slowly glancing at his Sudoku book, then picking his phone up again, dialing Ichikawa's cell number.

---

Sighing, Sora turned over in bed, flinging an arm lazily over the edge. When he noticed he wasn't touching Sunao, he sat up, annoyed. "Nao? NAAO?"

He got to his feet, slowly making his way to the mirror, where Nao had left him a note.

Hashiba--

We tried to wake you but to no avail. Matsuri-chan and I went shopping for JOAT supplies. If you need to get a hold of me, I have my phone.

I love you.

Sunao

Hashiba smiled lightly at the note before he blinked, noticing Nao's drawer was open. Whoever had gone through their things had even arranged their drawers differently. Sighing, he opened the drawer, switching Nao's underwear and socks to the other side before raising the journal. A few pages suddenly spilled out onto the floor.

"Oh great..." Sora knelt down, picking them up before gasping as his eyes fell onto the dates. He slowly went through them, organizing them, one by one. He sat down on the bed, the pages in his left hand, the journal in his right.

He wasn't reading them, however, he was contemplating. Considering whether he SHOULD read them, or if he should wait for Nao to tell him...

Sighing, he slid the journal back into Nao's drawer, closing it, before hiding the journal pages in his own underwear drawer.

Part of him didn't even want to know what was written on those pages...

---TBC---

**AN**: Yep, that's it for Chapter 3. I gotta tell ya, I write lemons all the time, but I've never written one that I thought someone would see… it's harder to write for than it is for yourself or friends! Personally, it makes me not want to post lemony scenes! Weird, huh?

As a side note- I don't have any idea how old Kano-kun is, but he's way smaller than the other chibis, and he rode in a baby seat when they took him on that trip to the hot springs, so I'm thinking anywhere between four and eight… but would you put an eight year old in a car seat?

Anyway, if you have any suggestions, feel free to post them! Thanks!


	4. Blockwood Video and a new Lab assistant

**AN**: In this chapter, junk happens. No lemony scenes, but Kano has a little adventure. Read and review, please!

Chapter 4: Aizawa's New Assistant and Kano-kun's mini-adventure

---

_Hashiba versus Fujimori_

_Execution: Get Fujimori to admit to what happened_

_Plan A…_

_**Direct Approach**_

"We're back!" Nao entered, carrying a paper bag. "I got you those cookies you like."

"…What cookies I like?" Hashiba glanced at him, hiding his notebook under his pillow.

"The ones with the chocolate and the meringue filling."

"…Those are the ones _you_ like."

"Yeah... Well I bought some."

"Okay… so, what happened back in the lab?"

"HASHIBAAA!" Fujimori threw the bag on the ground, angrily. "Quit bringing that up!"

"…Sorry… I won't do it again…"

**Plan A…**

**FAILED**

**Plan B…**

**Coy approach**

"…It's just… you love me, right?" Hashiba pointed at himself, flashing his biggest, googliest, most watery puppy dog eyes.

"Not enough to tell you." Nao folded his arms, annoyed.

"…" Hashiba glared.

**Plan B…**

**FAILED**

**Plan C…**

**Vindictive approach**

"But you were the one who owes us answers, aren't you!" Hashiba huffed. "After everything you put us through!"

**Plan C…**

**FAILED**

…_**MISERABLY.**_

"Nao, come out of there! I said I'm sorry a hundred tiiimes!" Hashiba banged on the bathroom door as Nao bawled inside.

"Why do you keep on asking me! WHY WHY WHY! I TOLD YOU I'LL TALK WHEN I'M READY!"

"Well you said you're never going to be ready! I want to know!"

"WHY!"

"Because you're obviously not over it and-"

"Wuaaaahaaahaaa--Of course I'm not over it! You won't give me TIME to get over it! Waaahaaaa!"

"I know you're fake crying so I'll leave you alone, but obviously, I won't! So I'm going to find out and it's either going to be from you or the journal pages I found! So please tell me!"

Nao's wailing stopped, and silence filled the room.

"…Nao?" Hashiba twisted the knob after hearing a small click.

Nao's cheeks were red and he sniffed before passing Hashiba. "…Why… can't you just be patient?"

"It's been six years. If we don't undo the damage now, there may not be any undoing it, and I WANT to help you. I want you to have a restful night of sleep without having to whimper… or cry…"

"Then get better at-"

"I mean in your sleep. You have nightmares every night. I want you to be happy."

"…" Nao's glare softened and he hugged Sora, sighing. "...But I don't want to talk about it… I want to forget everything… and I have so many regrets. Just the things I thought and the things I felt were shameful…"

"…But they were natural. If I had been the one abandoned… I'd have felt all the same things. Especially since they manipulated you… right?"

"….But…"

"It's alright." Sora hugged him tighter, reassuringly. "…Take your time. I'll always be here…"

"No you're right… I want to be happy with you and everyone…" Nao nuzzled Sora's chest. "…Make me feel better… kuu-chan…"

"After that little comment about my not being good in bed? You're not getting any for a week."

"You can't go a week. You're hard now."

"Hey, guys!" Matsuri ran in, suddenly. "There's someone here who wants to talk to you! I think it might be that Nagase guy!"

"…" The two held each other, annoyed.

"Well, he harshed _my_ boner."

"We need to put a lock on our door." Sunao glared at their blonde friend slash manager.

"Yeah, seriously…"

"It **was** locked." Matsuri raised a key. "Hurry up. I've been listening in for five minutes and I'm sure he's getting impatient waiting for me."

"MATSURI!"

"MATSURI-CHAN!"

"Come on!" He grabbed their hands, racing down the hall.

---

"…Matsuri- did you make that up?" Sora huffed as the three reached an empty hall.

"No… he was here just a second ago…" Matsuri looked around. No sign of anyone…

"…A criminal always returns to the scene of the crime." Sora pointed out, suddenly. "Let's check the heater room!"

"…I forgot where it was." Matsuri blinked.

"Third floor, fifth door on the right, right?" Nao blinked.

"I think we should check the bathroom first…" Matsuri suggested. "…So what's this Nagase guy look like? Does he have dark hair and glasses?"

"Yeah…" Hashiba muttered, nervously. So did Aizawa, and Minato, and Soushi…

"Kind of a greenish color of hair?" Matsuri blinked.

Well, that narrowed it down.

"Oh, there you are." Nagase materialized behind Sora, suddenly.

"GYAA!" Sora bolted behind Matsuri, glowering at Nagase.

Well… lesser of two evils at least.

"DON'T SNEAK UP ON PEOPLE!"

"Sorry I took so long." Matsuri smiled. "By the way, I'm-"

"Honjou Matsuri. I know who you are. Everyone at the school does."

"…I didn't realize I was so popular…" Matsuri blushed a little, rubbing the back of his head.

"…You're the student council vice president and the manager of the JOAT club… of course they know who you are. You have your own fan club."

"…REALLY?" Matsuri blushed.

"You're also the president of _that_."

"…Ahehehehh…" Matsuri chuckled, glancing at Sora and Nao, who glared at him.

"I'm looking for Ga-- Nn… Ichikawa-kun. Have you seen him today?" Nagase asked.

"No… not since last night…" Sora blinked.

"He seemed fine, if that's what you want to know." Matsuri offered, in his friendly manner.

"…No. I'm wondering about today. I tried his room and cell phone, but he didn't answer either time."

"…You seem worried." Nao muttered, distrustfully. "…Is it because you think something may have happened to him?"

"My father." Nagase nodded, and Sora and Nao flinched.

"…" Matsuri glanced about the group, sensing the tension. "…Well… it IS Saturday, but knowing Ichikawa-kun and his love for extracurricular activities, I bet he's got some kind of club or lesson he's taking part in right now, and you'd have to shut your phone off for that, right?"

"…" Nagase blinked before glancing at Matsuri, shocked. So there WAS a brain in that thick blonde head.

"Good thinking, Matsuri-chan. Let's go check near the school." Nao nodded.

"…With him…?" Sora slowly glanced at Nagase, irritated.

"He can't do anything against the three of us, right?" Nao pointed out.

"This could all be a staged kidnapping, you never know…" Sore huffed.

"I doubt he'd try that in broad daylight, I mean, if he was going to kidnap us, don't you think he'd do it at night?" Matsuri asked.

"…Yeah… kidnapper's standing right here." Nagase raised his hand. "Can we just go."

"I hate walking to school if there's no school…" Sora pouted.

"I didn't walk here from the city." Nagase snapped. "I drove my car."

"…Car?" The three blinked, glancing amongst each other.

---

"Tshoo tshoo tshoo…" Minato buttered his bagels before setting them on the edge of the counter, turning to shut off the TV. He turned back to his breakfast and blinked. Only one bagel?

He glanced down at the floor. "DAMNIT! EVERY TIME!" He threw his knife in the sink, furiously.

"What's the matter, Shinichiro!" Nanami came running.

"EVERYTIME, it doesn't matter what it is! Bagle! Toast! Half a sandwich! If it drops, it ALWAYS lands face down!"

"…" Nanami blinked, stupefied, before slowly shifting his gaze to the floor. He raised a hand up to cover his mouth, stifling his laughter.

"IT'S NOT FUNNY!"

"Yes it is." Nanami knelt down, picking it up and throwing it away before taking a wash cloth and cleaning the butter from the floor. "…too much butter, anyway."

"What do you mean?" Minato blinked, hurt. "…Are you saying I'm getting fat?"

"I don't recall saying that."

"You implied it!"

"Ugh…" Nanami sighed before stiffening when the doorbell rang. He headed over to it, picking up the phone. "Hello?"

"_HELLO_!" A pink rabbit popped up on the screen.

"…Ugh…" Nanami's head lowered as he grimaced, though he highly doubted a stuffed animal could see him. He sighed before raising back up, smiling brightly. "Good morning, Ayano-chan! Have you brought Kano-kun over early?"

"The business trip apparently was today… Somehow I must not have paid attention during the meeting…" Ayano held the bunny behind his back, embarrassed. "…Can you imagine that? OOOH! YOU GUYS GOT A NEW DOORBELL!"

"…No… you being ADD? I can't imagine that at all…" Nanami muttered. "Maa, nothing we can do about it. Come on up."

"No…" Ayano huffed. "I don't have ADD. Kano-kun noticed it, too, na? Kano-kun?" He turned and blinked, looking around.

"…Ayano-chan?" Nanami called.

"…Uuuh… JUST A SECOND!" Ayano laughed, nervously, and the screen went black.

"…Ugh… It's too early to deal with him…" Nanami scratched his head, irritated.

"He's the oldest; too, can you believe it?" Minato chuckled, sitting down on the couch.

"OKAY! We're ready!" Ayano's picture popped back up on the screen.

"Come on up." Nanami called, shutting it off.

"It'll be just like having a kid again." Minato teased.

"But he's going on a business tri- oh… you mean Kano-kun… actually…Hashiba-kun, Fujimori-kun and Matsuri-kun were all very outgoing as children. Save for Fujimori-kun, they still are… Kano-kun is different… he doesn't like to even speak to anyone, for the most part…"

Minato mumbled something incoherent.

"What was that?" Nanami arched a brow.

"Uh… I said… Then we'll get along just fine, he and I." Minato huffed.

"…Sounded more like you said, 'he sure is cute, though.'" Nanami grinned, knowingly.

"NoIDidn't."

A knock sounded on the door and Nanami opened it.

"My flight leaves in one hour, here you go, love you, Kano!" Ayano handed the kid to Nanami before setting down a billion packs of luggage. "Thank you very much, please take care of my beloved son." He bowed at the door before hurrying out.

"…" Kano blinked, nervously, reaching for his father and gripping his lab coat.

"Uh-!" Ayano froze before turning, kneeling down and placing his hands on Kano's shoulders. "We've been over this… you're going to be just fine…" He smiled.

"…" Kano's hand slowly slipped from his father's jacket.

"…_We'll be back real soon, ne_!" The bunny told him.

"…" Kano nodded, sadly before taking the rabbit from his father's hand and hugging it.

"Oh… you want to keep him here? Okay! No problem!" Ayano smiled, petting him on the head.

"…" Kano hugged him and Ayano smiled, smoothing out the boy's hair for a moment before hugging back. "Have fun, Kano!"

"…Um." Kano nodded.

"You two…" Ayano's face took on a look of seriousness. "…No queer stuff in front of him."

"LIKE _YOU_ DON'T **RADIATE** WITH HOMOSEXUALITY!"

"I'm not gay… well… maybe for myself…" Ayano blinked before glancing down at Kano.

"?"

"Don't worry about it!" Ayano pet his head again. "Bai bai!"

"…" Kano waved as his father darted out the door.

"...So… have you eaten yet?" Minato offered him the bagel that had fallen on the floor.

Nanami gasped, slapping it out of his hand. "SHINICHIRO!"

"…What!"

---

"This. Is. So. COOOOOL!" Sora was hanging out the window, excitedly as they sped down the street.

"What is he, a dog?" Nagase snapped. "You've never been in a car before?"

"Not a convertible! Besides, Soushi didn't speed."

"I don't like it…" Nao held his stomach. "I feel sick."

"You always did get motion sickness…" Nagase shrugged. "I'll slow down, for your sake."

Matsuri glanced at his friends. They weren't exactly… normal…

"Here we are." Nagase pulled to a stop in front of the school.

"How can we be sure Ichikawa's here? Even if it IS open?" Sora asked, getting out.

FWOOOOOOOM!

"WUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

A puff of blue smoke suddenly broke through the window of the chemistry lab.

"…"

"Yep, he's here." Nagase muttered, heading in. He hit the button on his remote that locked his car.

"…Dude, it's a CONVERTIBLE! Locking it won't stop anyone from getting in!"

"…Shut up."

---

The four walked up the stairs, nervously. With Ichikawa working in the chem. lab, unsupervised… there was no telling whether or not the school could collapse at any given moment…

Finally, they reached the chemistry lab.

Nagase took initiative, opening the door. "Gaku, why are you- ugh…" His eyes widened.

"Next time use less ethanol." Aizawa instructed before glancing at his son, smirking. "Ah, Kai… and you brought friends… I'm sorry, this section of the school is closed off to students save for one VIP."

"Buchou…?" Ichikawa blinked. "Sora-sempai… what're you guys doing here?"

Nagase glowered as Sunao's eye twitched. Ichikawa was putting out a fire with an extinguisher.

"What in the hell are YOU doing here?" Sora snapped. "and with that guy no less!"

"…" Ichikawa blinked before glancing at Aizawa. "He's in charge of the chemistry section and he called me today to ask me to assist him with a new experiment, why? Do you guys know him?"

"He's Aizawa!" Sora snapped and Ichikawa's eyes widened as he stumbled away from the creepy man with spider-like bangs.

"…Ai… zawa? The scientist who-"

"We're in the middle of an experiment here." Aizawa unfolded his arms, setting a few folders on a desk. "Would you all kindly leave?"

"…Why are you using Gaku?" Nagase snapped.

"He's my new assistant for the weekends. Since you convinced me that he's such a good assistant, I offered him a scholarship in exchange for weekend services."

"Well he doesn't accept." Nagase grabbed for Ichikawa's wrist, but Ichikawa pulled away, smiling.

"Please don't be upset, Buchou. I've already accepted, and besides, I don't mind being his assistant. He's testing honest experiments, and it's presumptuous of all of you to just assume he's doing anything otherwise. Aizawa-san is a very skilled and talented scientist who is sincerely interested in the expansion of human science, so please excuse yourselves." He bowed, politely. "And trust in the both of us."

"Ugh…" Nao and Sora exchanged looks as Nagase stared, stupefied.

"Heh." Aizawa smirked. "Well put, _assistant_."

"No." Matsuri grabbed Ichikawa's hand, suddenly. "No jobs. It's against the rules."

Nagase glanced at him as Sora and Nao sighed with relief.

"It's not a job." Ichikawa shoved his hand away, irritated. "It's voluntary work, and his paying for my tuition at a college is voluntary as well."

"…" Matsuri huffed. No fighting that…

"Fine… I'll stay here. V_oluntarily_." Sora huffed, taking a seat. "And watch. Since you two aren't working, it's okay for me to watch."

"Yeah, me too." Matsuri snapped, sitting beside him.

"I'm going to get something to eat from the vending machine, does anyone else want anything?" Nao asked.

"I want a water." Nagase sat down, too.

"I want pretzels!" Ichikawa exclaimed.

"Gaku, pretzels have a lot of sodium in them, which isn't necessarily good for you."

Aizawa growled, annoyed. He couldn't commence with his latest experiment with spectators…

"Well, we've been working for two hours now… I think it's safe to call it quits." Aizawa smirked, gesturing to the blue liquid all over the floor. "And since you're all volunteering to watch, you can volunteer to help clean up, too. Good day." He headed out and Nagase followed him, annoyed.

"WAAAAH… that guy really IS evil…" Sora whined as Ichikawa blinked.

"I'll do it. You guys go home, I made the mess."

Matsuri knelt down, scrubbing the floor. "No, we don't mind it."

"Really?" Ichikawa gasped.

"Since you're paying us, that is."

"…" Ichikawa's eyes narrowed, annoyed.

---

"Father." Nagase slammed the door closed when Aizawa tried to open it. The older man glanced his way, annoyed.

The two had arrived downstairs.

"You were right about that boy. He's a very good assistant." Aizawa mocked. "I just hope he doesn't fall for _me_."

SLAM!

Nao watched from around the corner as Nagase shoved his father against the wall.

"Zakennai yo." Nagase seethed, gritting his teeth. "What're you up to? You never involve yourself in what Gaku would consider an honest experiment. Yours all revolve around people, the human mind, the human will- in particular, controlling it.

"…" Aizawa pushed his son away, gently. As soon as he felt his father's resistance, he let up. Adjusting his lab coat, Aizawa glanced in Nao's direction.

Nao, glaring, stepped out of his hiding place, revealing himself to Nagase who merely gave him a sideways glance.

"We won't let you bring any harm to Ichikawa-kun." Nao snapped.

"Why would I wish to bring harm to my own assistant?"

"…" Nagase moved so Aizawa could leave.

"Keep your eyes open…"

"…" Nagase turned, heading over to Nao and passing him, walking up the stairs. "If Gaku doesn't refuse… there isn't anything we can do…"

"…If Ichikawa-kun doesn't refuse? Why would he willingly do this?" Nao pouted, following him. "You don't think he's already under Aizawa's influence, do you!"

"Sort of… but I bet I can break it." Nagase huffed.

---

"So… we probably don't have the kind of food you like… what do you eat?" Minato asked.

Kano sat on the couch, kicking his legs back and forth, quietly, hugging the bunny to himself as he stared up at Minato.

"…You can talk, right?"

"Shinichiro." Nanami admonished before sitting beside Kano. "Would you like some eggs and steak? Kano-kun?"

"…I ate already." Kano raised the bunny to show Nanami. "When is he coming back?"

"In about a week!" Nanami smiled. "Like he told you."

"…I miss him."

"HE HASN'T EVEN BEEN GONE AN HOUR YET!" Minato snapped and Kano cringed, hugging his bunny and standing, hurrying into another room.

"Keep your voice low and calm, Shinichiro." Nanami scolded. "The poor thing has never been away from his father for so long since he met him."

"…Well…" Minato huffed, standing. "Maybe we should get his mind off of it… I'll go rent a movie or something."

Kano peeked around the wall as Nanami and Minato spoke. His young ears picked up on 'rent a movie' and he scurried over to his shoes, unseen by the two. He put them on as Minato headed to the door, turning.

"What should I get?"

"You should get a few for him. Some children's movies… and maybe one for us for later…" Nanami wrapped his arms around Shinichiro's neck, kissing him.

"Mm…" Shinichiro returned the kiss, sneaking his hand behind his back and opening the door. "I'd better go now… besides… Ayano said none of this in front of Kano-kun."

"Kano-kun isn't in here…" Nanami whispered, kissing his lover again.

Kano, who was contradictorily sitting at their feet when Nanami had said that, finished putting his shoes on and he headed out the slightly cracked open door.

"Oh, I almost forgot." Nanami handed him a stack of movies. "Return these, too, and pay the late fees for them."

"NANAMI!"

"…Grab some snacks, too." Nanami gave Minato one more kiss before shoving him out the door and locking it, giggling.

'And while the kid watches movies… heh heh heh heh…' Minato headed down the hall and Kano silently followed, holding his bunny, following less than two inches behind Minato.

"…" The school teacher slash detective stopped before blinking. He heard two foot steps echoing his own before also stopping. He glanced over his shoulder and saw no one.

Kano glanced up at him before glancing over his own shoulder, wondering what he was looking at.

Shrugging, Minato continued down the hall. Kano kept staring, wondering if maybe the detective had noticed something behind them, before glancing back at Minato, then hurrying to his side, opening his mouth to ask what Minato had heard.

Minato, alarmed by the sudden quick sounding pace following his own stopped and swung around, staring up and down the halls.

Kano shut his mouth. His father had told him many a bed time story about the great adventures of detective Minato Shinichiro. Maybe someone was stalking them?

"…?" Scratching his head, said 'great detective' turned as Kano headed back to do a double-check to make sure no one was following them. Upon realizing Minato had continued on, he followed him, keeping his foot steps quiet in case someone else was following them.

Once outside, Minato shuffled through his keys, trying not to drop the movies. He clicked the remote control and the car unlocked. He set the movies inside before standing, looking for the key to the ignition. Kano got in on the passenger's side and buckled up as Minato got in, closing his door at the same time as Kano, who smiled, pressing his bunny to the arm rest and using him as a pillow as he laid down, shutting his eyes.

The car started up and they were on their way to Blockwood Video.

---

The boys were just about finished cleaning the mess back at the lab. Nagase wasn't helping.

"Gaku… you can't work for my father." Nagase huffed.

"Why not?" Ichikawa blinked, finished with the floor and moving to clean the walls. Nao just sat beside Hashiba, drinking a soda.

"…Because that scholarship is for me."

"You're you! You can get a scholarship anywhere." Ichikawa huffed, throwing a bucket of water across the wall.

"…" Irritated, but not yet defeated, Nagase tried again. "I don't trust him. I think it's a bad idea, you working for him."

"But you were the one who wanted him to be a good person, naa, Buchou?" Ichikawa smiled, scrubbing the wall.

"…" Nagase sighed, annoyed. "…He's just using you. For an experiment!"

"But I'm using him for an experiment, too!" Ichikawa admitted. "I'm going to get HIM to change! Jaa!"

"…" Nagase glanced at Matsuri, Sora, and Nao, who all shrugged.

"… Alright… I'll pay you idiots if you can convince this idiot."

"Sorry, the jack-of-all-trades is powerless against extreme stubbornness." Matsuri shrugged.

"Not if we fight stubbornness with stubbornness." Nao stood, heading over to Ichikawa. "Ichikawa-kun… if you don't quit being Aizawa's assistant… I'll never eat again until you do!"

"…You're going on a hunger strike!" Ichikawa snapped. "That's not fair!"

"Too bad."

"…Wait… you don't eat, anyway!"

"YES I DO!" Nao snapped, annoyed. "I eat a lot! See!" He grabbed Ichikawa's pretzels and ate one. "SEE! SEE! I EAT!"

"…Your hunger strike didn't last long, Fujimori-sempai…"

Matsuri and Sora busted up laughing as Nao gawked, tossing the pretzels on the floor and stomping on them. "STARTING NOW!"

"Okay…" Ichikawa pulled some cookies with chocolate and meringue filling, munching on one.

"…" Nao's eyes narrowed as Sora stifled his laughter.

"…YOU **BELONG** WITH AIZAWA! YOU'RE EVIL!" Nao snapped, turning and folding his arms. "None the less, I will not eat. Hmpf!"

"…?" Ichikawa stared, confused, still eating.

"Gaku, cookies contain too much sugar."

"And fat… but they're sooo goooood!" Ichikawa whined.

Nao started grinding his teeth as Matsuri and Sora sweat dropped.

---

"The late fee is fifty dollars!" Minato snapped.

"Twenty five movies, each two days late." The man shrugged.

"…Can I pay for it when I check out the other movies?"

"Sure. But you can't check out anymore until you pay."

"Fine with me." Minato snapped. "Where's your adult section?"

"In the back. Duh."

"And your children's section?"

"We don't carry THOSE kinds of movies…" The man arched a brow.

"NO, not in the adult section. Kids' movies! Something a little boy would wat-… this is starting to sound bad…"

The man arched a brow before glancing over the counter at Kano, who was picking out some movies.

"Ah. Babysitter, huh? How old is the boy?"

"Four or five."

"Then… back on that wall, there's some good ones." The man pointed.

"Thank you." Minato grabbed a basket, heading over to the wall. Kano had already picked out five. He watched as Minato tossed four in the basket, and then headed over to the adult section. Kano stopped at the door as Minato set the basket down right outside the curtains before heading in.

Glancing over the selections with displeasure, Kano took them out before putting his in… but wait…

Minato had put in four, and Kano had five… that meant he had to put one back… How unfair! Fine…

He picked two mecha ones, trying to decide which he wanted. He then glanced at the ones Minato had gotten and looked them over… No… why would Minato think he liked stupid shows like these!

He took the cooler mecha DVD and put it back in the basket before hurrying around the store to put the rest back. He then noticed a play area for children and he headed over to it, playing with some legos. When Minato came out of the adult section, Kano grabbed his bunny before following him.

Paying for the videos, and the absurd overdue fee, Minato collected his things before heading out. Kano followed him, waving goodbye to the clerk, who waved, kindly.

Minato once more fumbled with his keys before setting the new pile of movies down, then getting in. Once again, Kano's door closed at the same time as his, and he laid down.

---

Opening the door to their home, Minato gawked when he saw the place a mess. Kano blinked, pushing the door open a little more, confused.

Nanami ran out into the living room, hair disheveled and face looking quite panicked.

"I CAN'T FIND HIM!"

"What do you mean!" Minato snapped, and Kano blinked.

"Who?" He asked, and the two gawked, glancing down at him.

"…"

**AN**: Okay, so this was a short chapter… I just thought this was a good place to leave off for now. I think it's more fun to have two plots going at once, one more serious, and one more relaxed. It's hard to think up ways for a young boy to tag along with you on a trip unnoticed when the person he's tagging along with is actually a detective… you know? Anyway, the next chapter gets more heated when Aizawa manipulated Ichikawa using Nagase, and he also manipulates Nagase using Ichikawa. He also manipulates everyone else- even one of our two main protagonists- but which one? Nao? Or Sora? I don't know yet. I haven't written it… later, 543013-fans!


	5. Dunk the dork and a kissing booth

**Author's Rants**: Okay, so I finally noticed this after writing like thirteen chapters of my Yu-gi-oh fic and four chapters of this Sukisho fic… when I make a question mark with an exclamation mark following directly after it, it seems as though when I post it on it deletes the question mark… what the hell? I also write with a nice format, tabs and everything, why does F up my formatting? It's irritating.

Know what else is annoying? Freaking episode titles that last forever and then end up having basically nothing to do with the freaking episode! Seriously! The chick that writes Inuyasha is INFAMOUS for them. It pisses me off! On with the story.

**Chapter Five: The day that Sora went to the grocery store to buy some tomatoes for ninety nine cents per pound but when he got there and bought them, he noticed they rang up a dollar forty eight a pound and when he took his complaint to customer service they informed him that the sale he'd read about in the ad didn't occur until the following day, so he just returned them.**

… **Take that, Rumiko Takahashi-san!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Sukisho… or Inuyasha… If I did, there'd be more plot and less stupid side-stories about who loves who- GHUGH… and more Sesshoumaru. -.-**

… **Now that I think about it… THIS is a side-story, too… meh.**

**---**

"You've got to be joking…" Sora's eyes narrowed on the JOAT request Nao held in front of his face.

"It's from Minato-sensei…" Nao huffed. "It's authentic. I called to confirm… at first I thought it was a joke, too…"

"…Bull crap! Ayano left Kano-kun in his care! Why is he pushing him off onto us!"

"My guess…" Nao glanced at the note before putting it back where he'd gotten it; Kano-kun's backpack. "…I think they want to have… s-e-x."

"Sex?" Kano looked up and Nao gawked, covering his mouth.

"S-E-X. Sex." Kano spelled it out with the toy blocks Minato had left them.

"…" Nao and Sora exchanged looks before sighing.

"Sooo… Kano-kun, what do you do for fun?" Sora knelt down, smiling.

"…" Kano stared at him before thinking about it. Movies got boring after the first three… but he was hungry… "I'm hungry."

"Me, too…" Nao stated, sitting on his bed. "…Let's take him to Gaku's. He can watch him."

"We can't just keep passing him off onto other people! Besides, it was a special request!" Sora snapped, pulling out the cookies Nao had gotten for himself. "Here, Kano. Nao can't eat them anyway."

"…" Kano took them before blinking. "Why?"

"…Uh… he's on a diet." Sora shrugged, looking through some of Nao's movies. "I know… why don't you watch a movie!"

"No…" Kano got up before blinking as the door suddenly swung open.

"SORA-NIICHAN!" Sei burst through, excitedly, Kitamura and Shiina hot on his trail. "Have you seen…" They trailed off, noticing Kano.

"Oh…" Kano blinked.

"Hey, he's the kid from the hospital!" Shiina pointed. "Little kid! I like him! He's smaller than me!"

"I like him, too!" Sei exclaimed, jumping up and down a little. "Come play with us, little kid!"

"Why? He's like… not even in grade school yet." Kitamura huffed.

"He can help us!" Sei turned to Sora. "Please! Can we play with him? Are you guys watching him or something?"

"Uh…" Nao blinked as Sora nodded.

"That's right. We're supposed to keep an eye on him. What are you guys doing? Are you looking for Matsuri?"

"We're helping hang up decorations for the school carnival." Kitamura exclaimed. "Buchou's gonna let us handle all the decorations!"

"Buchou?" Nao and Sora exchanged looks again, imagining their blonde-haired friend writhing in ecstasy from their having called him their manager.

"Naa, speaking of 'Buchou,', we should go find Ichikawa-kun and make sure he isn't hanging around with Aizawa again." Nao suggested.

Kano glanced up at the name as the other boys shuddered from the mere mentioning of the man.

"Ichikawa? Is he the guy with blue hair?" Sei blinked. "He's with the scary guy. They're helping with the decorations, too!"

"…?" Nao and Sora blinked.

---

"Very good! VERY GOOD! It looks so very good!" Umetani smiled, cutely, pointing. "Oh, Nagase-kun, please raise the streamers a little."

"It's perfectly even." Nagase snapped, raising it.

"…No… you were right… lower it back…" Ume-chan nodded.

"…I know." Nagase muttered under his breath, taping the streamer.

"WUAAAAH! BUCHOU! DON'T FALL, OKAY!!" Ichikawa whined, nervously from twenty five feet below.

"I won't." Nagase started climbing back down the latter.

"SHAKE SHAKE SHAKE!" Sora grabbed the latter and started shaking it, suddenly.

Nagase growled, gripping onto it.

"WUAAAH! STOP IT, SORA-SEMPAI!" Ichikawa wailed, grabbing his arms. "You'll make him fall!"

"That's the point."

"HASHIBAA!" Fujimori snapped. "The kids will see and they'll take after your example!"

"Pish." Sora pouted, letting go. "No fair."

"Waaah! I want to climb, next!" Sei exclaimed, staring up as Nagase continued climbing down.

"How'd you guys get stuck doing this?" Hashiba asked, arms folded as Umetani got out another streamer.

"Obligation." Ichikawa smiled. "The clubs that were open today until five have to offer their assistance. Our being in the chemistry club means we have to help."

"Hey, guys!" Hano waved. "Want to help blow up balloons? My cheeks are sore."

"Kmmmff!" Hiromu stifled his laughter, patting Hano on the back. "You shouldn't talk like that in front of the children you know! Hano-kun!"

Hano blushed beet. "I DIDN'T MEAN IT LIKE THAT! Ahem… Fuuta! Come help blow up balloons!"

"I am helping blow up balloons." Kitamura snapped, popping one with a needle.

"NO!" Hano snapped, running over. The kids all gawked, running away.

"Run!"

"Ruuuun!"

Kano smiled, catching a red balloon that floated down into his grasp. It popped, suddenly and he blinked, flinching, before pouting, then looking up as Nagase knelt down in front of him.

"Kano… right?" Nagase smiled lightly.

Kano stared at him before turning and running to Sora, hiding behind his legs.

"…" Nagase's smile faded and he stood. "Now that there's more help, can we get back to chemistry class, Umetani-sensei? We're very busy."

"Busy doing what?" Ume whined. "But you guys said you'd help."

"But it's done, isn't it?" Hano asked.

"The gym… but this is just for karaoke. We have to decorate outside still, and we only have two hours."

"Wuaaah…" Ichikawa whined. "We have to climb ladders again!!"

"I don't mind. I'm not afraid of heights." Nagase shrugged.

"Don't forget the swimming pool! Fujimori-kun and Hashiba-kun, you two can help me with the pool, and Nagase-kun and Ichikawa-kun, you two can set up the streamers, flyers, and signs outside, since you're not afraid of heights. Kids, find Honjou-kun and help him set up some of the stands outside."

"Um… swimming pool?" Nao blinked, nervously. "…Why don't I help… um… Hiromu-kun and Hano-kun!!"

"I'm doing the dunk a guy in a pool of water thing." Hano smiled. "They sure like dunking geeks like me."

"…Or rather… Hiromu-kun?"

"I'm doing the kissing booth!" Hiromu smiled, cutely, blushing lightly and glancing at Sora.

"…I can do that!" Nao moved in front of him. "We can give each other breaks!"

"We get to dress in dresses, it'll be fun!" Hiromu smiled.

Nao sweat dropped. "…But I don't have to swim… right?"

"Right!"

"Great!"

"How come this is the first we've heard of this carnival thing?" Sora huffed.

"Because you guys are inobservant." Ichikawa teased. "Have fun with the pool, Sora-sempai!"

"…Yeah… have fun…" Hashiba huffed, lifting Kano and sitting him on the stage next to Hano. "…Help him blow up balloons, okay?"

"Um." Kano nodded.

"The hell are they gonna do with the pool anyway?" Sora muttered, heading out.

"Scooba diving!" Umetani smiled.

---

"Hi there! Would you like your face painted!!!" A perky clown leaned down, smiling to Kano. "Kano-kuun!!!"

"…" Kano blinked, clenching Sora's hand before glancing up at him.

"…Nanami-chan?" Sora's eye twitched.

"Oh, hi Hashiba-kuun! I'm so glad you're still taking such good care of Kano-kun for us! Shinichiro made a bet with me that you'd try to brush him off onto someone else, but I told him you were trustworthy! Boy am I glad! So, do you guys want your faces painted?" Nanami offered.

"…" Both blue haired boys shook their heads no, enthusiastically.

"Where is Minato-sensei?" Ichikawa blinked. "Is he here?"

"Oh, I'm sure he's around…" Nanami smiled. "Why don't you boys go look around a little, I saw the pool and the gym—they look wonderful! I hope you all have a very fun time."

"Thanks…" The four walked off.

"So what's the deal with this carnival anyway?" Sora asked, licking an ice cream as he walked alongside Ichikawa.

"It's a fund raiser." Ichikawa replied, shoving his ice cream into Nagase's face. Nagase pulled back just in time.

"I'm good, thanks."

"Your loss." Ichikawa licked it.

"We're actually raising money for the school, since windows keep breaking."

"Well if people wouldn't jump through them." Ichikawa teased Sora, who huffed.

"Well if people wouldn't BLOW THEM UP." The senior retorted, and Nagase smirked before glancing down at Kano, who was eying him.

"…Come on, let's go dunk that nerd friend of yours." Nagase gripped Ichikawa's arm, tugging him away.

"See you later, Sora-sempai!"

"Wanna hit the kissing booth with me?" Sora smiled down at Kano, who blinked before nodding.

"Um."

"Great!"

---

"I feel better." Nagase clapped his hands as Hano coughed and wheezed, pulling himself out of the water.

"…I don't feel good about this…" Ichikawa whined, holding three balls.

"Then give them to me." Nagase reached for them, and suddenly Minato sat down on the plank.

"Alright, Hano. Go ahead. Five minute break."

Ichikawa's jaw dropped. "M-Minato-sensei!!!"

"Oh… you're Sora's friend…" Minato blinked. "That straight A student… well, go ahead. Toss the balls."

"B-but… you're still wearing your school clothes…" Ichikawa blinked.

"That's because I don't intend to get wet." Minato whipped out a book of detention slips. "…By the way, do you engage in hand to hand fights with Sora every morning? Aren't you aware that's a suspend-able offense?"

"…" Ichikawa threw a ball, purposefully missing. "Woops! Too bad I'm not as good at throwing balls as I am punches- ahahaha…"

Everyone in line gulped, some of them heading back to see if they could get their money back.

Nagase huffed, grabbing a ball from Ichikawa before throwing it.

"GUAAAH!" Ichikawa's jaw dropped in horror.

SPLASH!

GAAAAAAAAAAASP!

"C'mon. Let's get our faces painted so he won't recognize us." Nagase grabbed Ichikawa's arm and tugged him away.

---

"Okay, take your break." Nao sighed, patting Hiromu on the back. "I'll take over."

"Thanks, Fujimori-kun. Surprisingly, there're a lot of attractive guys in the line…" Hiromu whispered. "And don't forget to change your voice to sound more feminine! They like that better."

"Uh…huh…" Nao sweat dropped, sitting down.

"WELL HELLO!" A fat guy plopped down in front of Nao, who gulped, lifting the sign that dangled in front of the desk:

Lip to Lip kiss: Pink ticket-- $1.00

French kiss: Red ticket-- $5.00

Make out-session: Blue ticket-- $10.00

Nao glanced up. The guy was holding a blue ticket. "Nnh… Is this really legal?"

"That's what I said!" The guy smirked, gripping Nao's chin.

"Thanks, Sunao-kun!" Hiromu called from the back of the line, holding a hot dog with garlic on it. "I'll bring this through and give you a kiss! We can fight back!"

"…Ugh…" Nao shuddered. "Who's idea was this, anyway?"

---

"This whole carnival was Matsuri's idea!!!" Sora gawked.

"Yeah." Minato snapped, wiping his face from the water.

"Wow, I can't believe someone ACTUALLY dunked you." Hano exclaimed.

"Yeah. I wanted to be the first!" Sora huffed.

"When I find that four-eyed brat, I'm going to kick his ass, you can be sure of that." Minato snapped. "Okay, Hano, you have a customer."

"…But it's only been four minutes."

"…" Minato glared.

"Alright, alright…" Hano pouted.

"Where IS Matsuri, anyway?" Sora huffed, heading to the kissing booth with Minato.

"I think I saw him giving blood." Minato replied. "…And for Nagase's sake, the four-eyed brat better be hanging around that general area, too."

"NAGASE DUMPED YOU!!!" Sora gawked, smiling a huge smile. "HE'S MY NEW FAVORITE PERSON!"

Kano blinked before glancing at an ice cream booth, tugging on Sora's arm. "Niichan…"

'WAAAAH! HE CALLED ME 'NIICHAN' IN THAT CUTE VOICE!' Sora thought, blushing madly. "You want ice cream, huh, Kano-kun!!!"

"Um!"

"Okay! Oh… but…" Hashiba pouted, staring at his wallet. Only one dollar left…

He glanced at the ice cream, which was one dollar, before glancing at the kissing booth. Nao was up…

"…" He sadly turned to look down at Kano, who had his hands pressed against the window, staring excitedly at all the different flavors.

"…Now I know how YOU feel…" Sora pouted, and Minato blinked, glancing at the kissing booth. A sinister smirk spread across his face.

"Yeah… give him whatever he wants…" Sora sighed, handing the man a dollar before turning. "So, Niichan- GYAAH!" He gawked.

Minato was standing in line, holding a blue ticket.

"YOU BASTARD!"

Kano smiled, holding his ice cream up to Sora. "Want a lick, niichan!!!"

"…" Sora glanced down at him, annoyed. "No thanks… I had my heart set on licking something sweeter…"

"Nothing's sweeter than chocolate…" Kano blinked.

"Ah… so naïve…" Sora sighed, taking his hand.

"It even has sprinkles…"

"So sweeeet…" Sora wasn't really listening to Kano, he had a spacey look.

"Like you don't get **_that_** for free anyway!"

Sora glared as a hand clamped down on his shoulder.

"Matsuri, where the hell have you been!!" Sora swung around and gawked.

"I gave blood!" Matsuri exclaimed, pointing to his arm.

Sora moved away from him, shrinking up a little. "I hate needles…"

"It was fun! And I'll get to find out my blood type! They send you a card in the mail!"

"…I thought you already knew your blood type…?"

"Yeah, but I gave so much blood I feel all light headed and I can't remember!"

"…Here, Matsuri… lean on me, like this…" Sora sighed.

"Oh, I can't go to half of these things… it's not fair… and I'm the one who organized it!"

"…Why can't you go?" Sora blinked.

"Let's just say I had a bit of trouble with the house of mirrors… some complaints were filed… a fine was charged for public indecency… anyway, I think I'm okay to go through the kissing booth! That bishounen Hiromu is working it, right?"

"Yeah, and Nao." Hashiba huffed. "And that ass hole Shinichiro just bought a BLUE ticket!"

"… Meaning…?"

"The pink means lip to lip kiss… the red means French kiss… and the blue means make-out session."

"…Why?" Kano asked, suddenly.

"I guess 'cause pink is when a girl is innocent, she doesn't wear lipstick… red is like if you have lipstick and you have more experience… and blue from crushing your lips together so much they bruise or somethi- I DON'T KNOW! I don't think there's any meaning to it, they're just colors!" Sora huffed. "And now niichan's going to make out with MY guy!"

"…What a jerk…" Matsuri huffed before smirking. "Hey, I have an idea…"

"Oh no…"

"What?" Matsuri blinked.

"…You have an idea. I just said 'oh no' because usually your ideas…"

"…"

"…" Kano licked his ice cream, watching.

"…Never mind."

"WHAT!!! MY IDEAS WHAT!!!!"

---

"Can't you finish instead of laughing!!!" Ichikawa whined, Nanami doubled over in a fit of his own laughter.

"I-I-I'm TRYING! AHAHAHAHAA!" Nanami sighed, wiping away a tear before finishing Ichikawa's face. "Okay, Nagase-kun, your turn."

"…" Nagase sighed, annoyed, sitting in front of Nanami. Ichikawa took watch.

"You know…" Nanami smiled to him. "I can't paint on you with your glasses on."

"…" Nagase pulled them off.

"There, that's better." Nanami smiled. "Why, you have a very attractive face… not unlike your father."

Nagase huffed as Ichikawa glanced at them.

"NO WAY! THAT SPIDER HEAD HAS NOTHING ON NAGASE-BUCHOU! He's ten times more attractive than that old guy!"

"…Old…" Nanami's eye twitched. "He's not that much older than Shinichiro…"

"He's like ten years older than Minato-sensei!"

"Ten years isn't a lot." Nanami huffed. "Honestly… you boys… you think a week is a long time."

"It is!" Ichikawa huffed.

Nagase smiled, standing after Nanami finished doing his face. He slid his glasses back on. "Let's go find Hashiba."

"Huh?" Ichikawa blinked. "Why?"

"No reason in particular…"

---

"Minato-sensei…" Nao blinked as Minato smirked, sitting down.

"Hi there, Sunao! Look what IIII have!" He raised a blue ticket and Nao's forehead darkened to the color of the ticket.

"'Scuse me." Someone tapped on Nao's shoulder. "Your break."

Minato blinked as Sora smirked, patting the shoulder of the fat kid from earlier. "Look who volunteered to give you a break!"

Minato stared.

---

"Eeeh? You want your faces painted, too? But why?" Nanami blinked as Nao looked around, frantically, Sora and Matsuri both jogging in place, as though they were in a hurry.

Kano picked up a paint brush and started painting his own face.

"SORAAAAAAAA! MATSUUURIIIII!"

"…Oh my…" Nanami blinked. "Isn't that Shinichiro's voice?"

"Hurry!" The two snapped as Nao hid behind Nanami.

"THAT was NOT funny!" Minato snapped, furiously, barging in.

"That's what you get for trying to make out with Sunao." Sora huffed.

"…" Nanami's eye twitched. "Shinichiro… you were trying to make out with a high school student?"

"C'mooon, Nanami! It's for a good cause!"

"Paying for windows isn't a good enough cause."

"…Actually, I meant pissing Sora off… but yeah, the school NEEDS windows. One kid went to lean against one and fell out! Thank God he was on the first floor."

"…Nanami-sensei." Nagase came back, irritated. "Have you seen-"

"YOU!" Minato pointed and Nagase blinked.

"…Oh… shit."

"WUAAH! It's starting to rain outside!" Ichikawa wailed, coming inside the tent, quickly. He blinked. "Oh, look, buchou! Everyone's here!"

"Rain?" Matsuri blinked. "Oh no… it's supposed to be sunny today… that means we have to close everything up!"

"Too bad… I was really starting to have fun." Sora pouted.

"Hey! Why is everyone ignoring me!! I'm still mad!" Minato snapped, sitting beside Kano, who blinked, drawing angry eyebrows on his forehead.

"…" Everyone stared before stifling their laughter.

Kano blinked before smiling, cutely.

"BWAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA!" Everyone busted up laughing and Minato raised a mirror to look, chuckling a little.

---

"So what didn't get rained out? Where are we going?" Nanami asked as Minato led the group to the school. "Are we going to the pool?"

"NO!" Nao snapped.

"Of course not." Minato smirked. "We all have our places in this carnival, and mine is at the school."

"I thought you were covering for Hano!!!" Ichikawa blinked.

"That was just because I'm a nice guy." Minato pulled them all into the gym and everyone in the huge room turned to look at them as they walked out on stage.

"…Wasn't the gym for…" Sora's face paled.

"Kareoke?" Nao whimpered.

"Hi there, everyone! Who wants to hear some SINGING!!!"

"YEAAAAH!" Everyone cheered.

"Oh God, no…" Sora snapped.

"First person to go on the spot is off the hook." Minato snapped.

"But we didn't prepare or anything!" Ichikawa whined.

Nagase grabbed the mic. "…Okay… It looks easy enough…"

"WHAA!!!" Sora and Nao gawked. "NAGASE! You DO know what karaoke IS, don't you!!!"

"…Singing to a machine, right?" Nagase asked, glancing over the screen. "…How come there're no actually songs on here? Just music?"

"You have to make up a song on the spot, didn't I mention that? No backing out now." Minato raised the mic. "Nagase Kai of the chemistry club has volunteered to go first!"

"YEAH!" Everyone cheered as Nagase's eye twitched.

"Good luck, Buchou… if you mess up, I'll go right after you and make an even bigger ass of _myself_!" Ichikawa offered

"…Thank you... That's very reassuring, Gaku."

"What's the name of the song!!" Minato asked into the mic.

"…" Nagase huffed. "Reloaded."

---

**AN**: That's all for now… I forgot when I wrote the AN last time that I had a side-story set aside in case it started taking me a while to get a chapter done. I was gonna skip it, but I decided I liked this one after all… not to mention, I had forgotten that there are some important things in here for setting up the next chapter. Aside from that, I'm not even half-way done with the next chapter… hope this holds some people over for now.


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